,illustration ,illustration3 ,,russian ,,art ,,the ,,alexander ,,kogan ,,publishing ,,company ,,copyright ,,by ,,alexander ,,kogan ,,publishing ,,company1 8,,russian ,,art01 ,,berlin ,,bakst ,illustration ,,mcmxxii ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,leon ,,bakst',s ,,life ,illustration3 ,i ,,portrait ,,of ,,bakst ,,by ,,modigliani ,,text ,,by ,,andr ,,levinson ,,brentano',s1 ,,new ,,york ,,the ,,american ,,edition ,,of ,,this ,,work ,,consists ,,of #bej ,,numbered ,,copies ,n4 #bdg ,,printed ,,in ,,germany ,,dr4 ,,selle ,co4 ,a4,g41 ,,berlin ,illustration3 ,,ii 8,,chastising ,,cupid0 ,,project ,,of ,,decorative ,,panel ,,preface ,illustration ,in the book of fame1 the name of ,leon ,bakst is writ large4 ,many a time and oft1 illustrious critics have heralded his praises4 ,in speaking today of the contribution made by ,bakst1 there is really nothing that one can add or improve upon4 ,the inventory of his achievements has been completed2 the unexampled influence which he never ceased to exercise has been rightly evaluated4 ,nevertheless1 there remains a task which must not be neglected4 ,paris1 to be sure1 enthusiastically watched the development of his art2 but for us1 ,russians1 has been reserved the most thrilling experience of all--that of chronicling the unfolding of his genius4 ,we have here the spectacle of a towering1 unusual1 selfrevealing personality1 and of a style that develops progressively and that blazes new ways after bitter struggles4 ,more than that1 in order to obtain a composite picture of his work1 in order to arrive at a general estimate of the man1 we must try to reproduce the intimate atmosphere of his artistic development1 the material and intellectual surroundings which shaped his course4 ,as a compatriot and contemporary of the master1 ,i have1 on the whole1 breathed this same atmosphere4 ,i have been an eyewitness of those earlier creations of his that mark an epoch in the history of ,russian painting and of the ,russian theater4 ,this knowledge constitutes my qualification for attempting this biography4 ,the latter would be incomplete unless his childhood and adolescence were also to be recalled4 ,in so far as this period of his life is concerned1 ,i am reporting ,bakst's own words2 with moderation ,i have supplied a running comment4 ,thus these pages present the first attempt at a story of ,bakst's life4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,the ,,yellow ,,drawing ,,room ,it was in a dull and mediocre home of the welltodo middle class that our artist who1 as the originator of expensive pageants and the dispenser of unheardof splendor1 was destined some day to modify profoundly the whole conception of the western stage1 spent his early childhood4 ,leon ,bakst's family lived at ,petrograd1 on ,sadovaia street4 ,now1 there is nothing more incongruous than the different sections of the ,russian capital--8the most phantastic in the world10 to use a phrase of ,dostoievski4 ,the ,sadovaia is a rather narrow but very lively street1 which cuts across the marketplace and is flanked by the arches of three huge galleries where countless small tradesmen carry on their business4 ,here1 in the adjacent streets1 in the gutters of the sidewalks which1 depending upon the time of the year1 were muddy or dusty1 ,roskolnikov lived his life of superhuman anguish2 a few steps from here1 in a gloomy red house1 during all of a terrible night ,rogojin and ,prince ,mishkin watched over their murdered love2 here1 too1 one day ,nicholas ,i1 the giantlike autocrat with the countenance of an ,apollo1 standing at the entrance to the temple which overhangs ,sennaia ,square1 by a single imperious word brought the revolting mob1 which was exasperated by the plague and the shedding of blood1 to their knees4 ,thus to a dreamer who is haunted by memories the very stones of this district1 which has been the silent witness of tragic fates1 whether imaginary or real1 seemed to be harbingers of bad luck4 ,and yet1 notwithstanding1 there is nothing more noisily commonplace than the daily routine in broad daylight of this same ,sadovaia3 large public houses1 but devoid of rustic cheerfulness2 mechanics' shops in which the songs had died4 ,dull boredom of an industrious popular life1 but how discolored1 deadened1 and enervated by the peculiar atmosphere of this artificial town--this city of officials1 of soldiers and of ghosts6 ,nevertheless the little soul of the wellbehaved child1 blocked up though it was by realities that afforded no way out1 possessed its wondrous sesame1 its secret garden4 ,every ,saturday ,levoushka would walk toward the ,nevsky ,prospect where1 but a few steps from ,general ,army ,headquarters with its imposing semicircular faade of red1 from ,winter ,palace ,square1 and from the ,admiralty--a veritable fairyland of lofty architecture--1 his grandfather lived1 a noble and vaguely mysterious being who1 without in the least being conscious of it1 awakened in the future artist a reverence for ,beauty1 a holy fear of the ,unknown4 ,the child thus came into unusual surroundings which constituted the artificial paradise of his early life4 ,whatever it was--precocious influence or atavism--this fascination dominated the life of ,bakst and at least decided his calling4 ,at any rate the master himself1 who one day told me at length about his earliest recollections1 seems to think so4 ,his grandfather1 a peculiar fellow1 was a ,parisian of the ,second ,empire1 a man of society who1 it may well be1 not long ago had been out walking with the ,mornys and the ,paivas4 ,an amiable ,epicurean he was1 a man of fine discernment in the manner of his time1 who had set up a retreat for himself at ,petrograd that was well adapted to his ineffaceable memories4 ,everything in this home of dreams appealed to the sensibilities of the child--the brocaded silks1 the graceful and heavily gilded trinkets4 ,but his greatest delight was the large gilded parlor1 with panels of yellow tapestry1 with furniture of rock and shellwork in the style of #ahfj1 with its white marble1 its yellow flower stand1 filled at all times with rare plants1 and 7this constituted his supreme happiness7 its four gilded cages in which canary birds were chirping4 ,in a corner1 on a stand1 a large model of the ,temple of ,salomon displayed its imaginative architecture4 ,a large painting had for its subject the lament of the ,jews before the demolished walls of ,zion1 for the former ,parisian 8lion0 did not renounce his race2 he had not forgotten ,jeremiah over ,theresa4 ,the irritable old man at times scared the impulsive and vivacious urchin2 kindhearted old grouch that he was1 he often angrily charged the wretched disorder up to the young lad4 ,levoushka was therefore not sorry to see his grandfather leave for his customary ,saturday promenade1 for this was indeed the right moment for him to make the large clock1 with its mechanical doll1 ring1 and to wind up the music boxes of every description that were to be found in the yellow drawing room4 ,his own home furnished ,leon no such emotions4 ,besides1 the indifference to matters of art was practically general in the ,russian intellectual classes of that time4 ,the grandfather was therefore the idol of the child1 his sole arbiter of good taste4 ,no sooner had he returned home1 than ,levoushka would turn his room upside down and would try to arrange his modest furniture according to the exquisite sthetic principles of the yellow drawing room2 and he would try to hide from view the things that were devoid of beauty4 ,yet throughout all this there was never any idea of painting4 ,later1 his grandfather never got to know that ,bakst was sketching4 ,meanwhile ,leon was about to become ten years old4 ,his entry into school put an end to his weekly pilgrimages to the ,nevsky ,prospect4 ,sesame had closed4 ,,the ,,ungrateful ,,age ,no sooner had ,leon become encased in the uniform which distinguishes the city student from the provincial youngster in gray--viz41 a black blouse with silver buttons--1 than he came to know the monotonous and depressing life of the ,russian schoolboy3 rising by lamplight during the long winter months2 returning with his schoolbag on his back2 suffering the petty annoyances of an oppressive discipline and the black boredom of official education4 ,it was then that he discovered the theater4 ,not that he had ever been there4 ,like everybody else1 his family had subscribed to a season ticket at the ,italian ,opera which was then at the height of favor and which eclipsed all efforts of an unappreciated national music to win its way2 but our hero1 being too small1 was not allowed to go to the family box4 ,with great difficulty1 however1 he had gained the privilege of staying up on ,mondays--the days on which his family had the box--until their return4 ,with delight he would then listen to his brother's account of the 8,puritans0 or the 8,favorita0 and their tragical and pompous vicissitudes4 ,tired of listening without acting1 he constructed his own theater4 ,he cut out his heroes from the sheets of colored paper soldiers1 his princesses from the engravings in popular fairy tales illustrated at ,epinal1 his court ladies from the fashion magazines4 ,then he would place his actors on a paste board stage and 8brush in0 the scenery in water color with paint plundered from his colorbox4 ,the subjects were plentifully provided by the librettos of ,verdi's operas1 augmented by supplementary murders4 ,as for the audience--it was never lacking1 ,leon having always been the appointed and recognized entertainer of his little sisters4 ,this play of makebelieve did not1 however1 entirely satisfy his precocious ardor4 ,the strong desire for disguising and masking is1 after all1 quite general among children1 who possess a genius for dramatizing the facts of life4 ,improvised plays were1 therefore1 put on4 ,the most frequently recurring motif was the visit of the doctor4 ,there was much ,illustration3 ,,iii ,d',,annunzio',s 8,,martyrdom ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebastian0 7,,mme4 ,,rubinstein ,,in ,,the #eth ,,act74 ,illustration3 ,,iv ,,judith ,,of ,,bethulia 7,,panel7 illness at ,leon's home6 ,young ,leon1 besides being stage manager1 would now play the role of the doctor with black robe1 now that of the druggist1 now even1 with selfdenial1 the rather contemptible part of the patient4 ,illustration3 ,,sketch ,,of ,,cover ,,for ,,the ,,review 8,,apollon0 ,one day1 as he had concocted a drug by diluting green coloring matter1 he pursued realism to the point of swallowing the concoction4 ,he fell ill4 ,only with the greatest effort in the world was it possible to save him by making him drink a quantity of milk4 ,throughout all this1 however1 we do not yet see the painter come to the fore4 ,indeed1 our schoolboy was decidedly not a success at drawing1 ,illustration3 ,,remembrance 78,,elysium0 ,,cycle7 and with envy he watched how his chums sketched fine battle scenes upon the margins of their note books4 ,his life's calling announced itself for the first time when he was almost twelve years old4 ,his school1 known as 8the sixth gymnasium01 was making preparations to celebrate the ,illustration3 ,,eternal ,,wanderers 78,,elysium0 ,,cycle7 centenary of ,joukovsky1 the celebrated ,russian poet4 ,a good portrait was wanted for the ceremony4 ,accordingly1 a prize competition was organized4 ,bakst decided to enter it4 ,he reverently took home the little engraving which was to serve as model1 and four or five days later he brought back his drawing4 ,the prize was awarded him1 and his masterpiece put in a glass frame and hung in the gymnastic hall4 ,from then on ,bakst was unanimously proclaimed a painter1 and he was able to pride himself on winning many a prize4 ,leon's father was not much pleased over this sort of success1 especially since bad marks were raining thick in the other studies4 ,he conceived the notion that his son's predilection for drawing was due to sheer laziness4 ,he therefore positively forbade him this pastime which1 he argued1 interfered with serious studies4 ,leon therefore continued drawing in secret1 at nighttime1 by the light of a candle4 ,on the other hand his accomplishments brought him the friendship of his drawing and penmanship teacher1 who became much attached to the youngster4 ,andrei ,andreevitch was a diminutive little man with bowlegs2 but this tailcoated freak in blue was fired with a divine enthusiasm4 ,striding about the class room he would talk incessantly to the pupils1 now pondering the volutes of an acanthus leaf1 now discussing the lives of great painters1 their struggles1 their triumphs4 ,so volubly and so well did he speak that he stirred deeply the imaginative soul of little ,bakst and awakened all the latent passion in him4 ,subsequently1 the artist's entire magnificent life was to be animated1 as it were1 by these rhythmic fits of intellectual fever1 from which he was to emerge renewed1 transformed1 his mind's eye turned toward unexplored horizons4 ,the profession of painting1 therefore1 suddenly appeared to ,levoushka to be the highest of all destinies--one bearing the halo of heroism4 ,filled with this romantic dream1 he was anxious to quit school at once4 ,and he insisted with such impetuosity that his parents1 routed in the argument1 decided by way of setting him right to seek the advice of the sculptor ,marc ,antokolsky1 a friend of the family and a recognized authority on all matters pertaining to art4 ,the late ,antokolsky was little known in ,paris where he used to live1 nor do people care much about him in ,russia today1 although his works1 which are quite numerous1 fill the museums of ,moscow and especially of ,petrograd4 ,so deceptive is artistic glory6 ,for indeed1 he had his day of glory4 ,in ,russia he was the sculptor of the century--of that nineteenth century which had lost the plastic ,illustration3 ,v 8,,forsaken ,,chloe04 ,,project ,,of ,,decorative ,,panel4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,vi ,,portrait ,,of ,,mr4 ,t4 7,,red ,,chalk7 arts almost completely4 ,the conception of a strict naturalism placed at the service of humanitarian and social ideals1 dominated by the idol ,people1 a conception that also characterized the notable and prophetic 8g,association des expositions ambulantes_/g01 was also his4 ,moreover1 ,stassov1 the voluble and prolix critic who composed for the great ,moussorgsky the monstrously confused text of 8,khovanshchina01 turned ,antokolsky's mind toward ,russian history4 ,and thus1 through his bronze and marble sculptures1 ,antokolsky became the historical illustrator and portraitist of ,russia4 ,he wrought ,ivan the ,terrible1 ,nestor the ,annalist1 ,peter the ,great1 and even ,ermak the ,cossack1 conqueror of ,siberia4 ,with keen psychological sense he also composed the likenesses of heroes and martyrs of free thought3 a dying ,socrates1 a ,spinoza and a ,christ insulted1 the latter work being conceived in the spirit of ,strauss and ,renan4 ,all these monumental figures which greatly stirred his contemporaries no longer show any signs of life4 ,there remains the personality of ,antokolsky1 which was in every respect a pure one4 ,not without reason did this poor and pertinacious young ,jew1 who hardly knew how to write ,russian1 become the idol and the oracle of two generations4 ,we see but too clearly today that he travelled the wrong road4 ,but he had faith4 ,his artistic convictions were unalterable1 unselfish1 absolute1--those of a fanatic4 ,more than that--a thing seldom to be found--1 this fanatic was kindness itself4 ,antokolsky1 then1 on being consulted made much of the misfortunes and bitter disappointments that one embarking upon an artistic career must expect4 ,but he was not unwilling to look ,leon's drawings over4 ,pestered by the youngster1 his father sent several sketches to ,paris4 ,lo and behold6 when the reply1 so anxiously awaited by the boy1 arrived1 it was favorable1 decisive1 almost intoxicating4 ,the master had found the drawings quite well done and advised the boy's going to the ,academy of ,fine ,arts1 on condition1 however1 that he pursue his general education4 ,thus ,leon1 the intractable and mediocre schoolboy of the day before1 was to become a painter1 a chosen and quasi-legendary being4 ,he was then sixteen years of age4 ,,the ,,two ,,sphinxes ,leon1 then1 presented himself for examination but failed4 ,before being admitted to another test he had for a year to practice drawing from models2 and only after he had solved the mysteries of this form of academic discipline1 was he admitted4 ,for another year he kept abreast of both his artistic studies and his general secondary education2 soon1 however1 he neglected school and1 after a few feeble attempts1 gave it up altogether4 ,let us state the fact without bitterness3 ,bakst never received the ,bachelor's degree4 ,the first day that ,bakst1 attired in his new green uniform1 wended his way along the granite embankment toward the ,academy and1 having passed under the eyes of the two ,sphinxes from ,thebes with a hundred gates which guard the sanctuary1 decided to enter1 his astonishment and his proud ecstasy knew no bounds4 ,however1 despite the grand pretense of a temple1 the ,imperial ,academy of #ahij was a rather curious institution4 ,the academic instruction which flourished at the beginning of the century1 maintained its power and authority until the close of ,nicholas ,i's reign4 ,but from #ahfc on it was badly shaken by the famous secession of the 8,thirteen01 with ,kramskoi at the head4 ,these thirteen later became the first 8wanderers02 they were destined to herald the arrival of a certain humanitarian realism closely related to the teachings of ,proudhon and of ,courbet4 ,they professed the haughtiest contempt for disinterested pictorial beauty1 for mere virtuosity1 yes1 even for sound craftmanship based upon traditional experience4 ,among the 8pompiers0 classicism had degenerated into hackneyed copying2 teaching became vulgar pedantry4 ,among the revolutionaries classicism was the complete and absolute negation of art1 admitted only as a function of social apostleship4 ,but the younger artists had public opinion behind them1 which hailed the catastrophe as a liberation4 ,yet for thirty years the ,academy1 powerful solely because of its official authority1 continued to stick to the past and to live outside the pale of a throbbing artistic life4 ,not until #ahic did the 8wanderers01 led by ,makovsky and ,repine1 enter the citadel in order to establish a bold and frank dilettantism while still respecting the remnants of the old ,academy4 ,at that time ,bakst had already broken with his first masters2 we shall soon see why4 ,let us first1 however1 briefly complete the history of the institution on the ,nicholas ,embankment4 ,toward #aiaj a reaction set in against the anarchy of the 8wanderers0 and in favor of a classic revival1 of a rehabilitation of craftmanship4 ,this movement was of short duration1 however1 for the ,october ,revolution abolished the ,academy and established gfree studios_/g upon its ruins1 the management of which was placed in the hands of artists who supported the ,communist regime4 ,on the day of its death the ,russian ,imperial ,academy was more than #aej years old4 ,thus1 at the ,fine ,arts ,school1 ,bakst found a training that clung to unchanged formul1 but that was decadent1 inert1 and lifeless4 ,he spent three months drawing from basreliefs and one year sketching models4 ,then1 after having passed the class in costumes and copied draped mannequins1 he was admitted to the studio class4 ,his teacher1 ,tchistiakoff1 did not encourage him to continue2 he considered ,bakst a promising sculptor1 and whenever his pupil tried to talk painting to him1 he would invariably turn the conversation to sculpture4 ,tchistiakoff's colleague1 ,venig1 was more farsighted and1 while disapproving of a certain vivacity and truculence of colors which netted young ,bakst the ironical title of 8,rubens newly ground01 he was not unfriendly to him4 ,this meant a great deal1 for it was impossible to think of any more intimate relations--any communion of ideas or of feelings--between the popelike officials and their pupils who were as yet unknown quantities4 ,far more important were his relations with his fellow students1 especially with the class that was about to leave4 ,at school and at his paternal home he had been placed in a position of isolation because of his artistic aspirations2 here he found himself surrounded by young people devoted to that same art that was viewed with such suspicion by the ,russian intellectuals of yesteryear4 ,at the ,academy ,bakst met ,nesteroff who1 following ,vasnetzoff and contemporaneous with ,vroubel1 was to attempt a revival of the ikon1--a revival which1 besides proving abortive1 was more in the nature of sentimental and artificial imitation4 ,this craze for old national art went hand in hand among certain students with a strong animosity against the 8gmtques_/g02 besides1 anti-,semitism was officially encouraged and stimulated1 since it served to sidetrack the hatred which was more and more undermining the autocratic power4 ,bakst1 sensitive and meticulous1 was grieved at this4 ,he therefore clung all the more closely to ,seroff1 several years his senior1 who was finishing his education and who aspired to winning the ,grand ,prize for ,painting--the gold medal4 ,this future portraitist was a son of the celebrated musician whose masterpiece1 8,judith01 is known to ,parisians only by partial selections4 ,already he had achieved1 in the eyes of his fellow students1 the intellectual and moral prestige that was due to the uprightness--albeit somewhat morose--of his character and the tenacity of his effort4 ,soon1 indeed1 he came to the forefront of his generation4 ,this man1 already matured1 reserved1 and little given to effusive outbursts1 took a fancy to the red haired young lad4 ,the pair would sit together in the studio2 they would spend the evenings chatting in the modest students' apartment where ,seroff lived and drinking plenty of tea4 ,those were the happy days6 ,they lasted for eighteen months4 ,clouds were1 however1 gathering over the head of ,bakst who had already given repeated offense to his superiors by his whims of independence4 ,a free competition was announced in which 8,the ,madonna ,weeping ,over ,christ0 was to be the subject and the ,grand ,medal of silver the prize4 ,bakst joined the competitors4 ,he sought inspiration from those artists of his time who had attempted a revival of religious subjects by displaying a realistic setting--thus breaking away from the iconographic traditions of the ,renaissance--1 by giving care to ethnographic detail1 by minutely studying the expression observed4 ,these artists included ,repine and ,polienoff in ,russia1 and ,munkaczy abroad4 ,but1 carried away by a youthful enthusiasm1 he wished to go beyond the fastidious and cautious realism of these painters and make a tenstrike4 ,he therefore chose a canvas of enormous dimensions--almost seven feet in length--and plunged into his work4 ,for the characters of the legend he set down ,jewish types that were obviously overdone1 and imparted ,illustration3 ,,vii 8,,modern ,,dress0 7,a 8,,fantaisie07 ,illustration3 ,,viii 8,,daphnis ,,and ,,chloe ,,parting ,,in ,,the ,,evening04 ,,sketch ,,for ,,decorative ,,panel 7,,gouache74 a movement to them that imitated the gesticulation of ,lithuanian clothing merchants or of elders in the synagogue4 ,as to the ,virgin1 she was an old1 dishevelled woman1 with eyes red from weeping4 ,our candidate was1 to be sure1 vaguely conscious of the fact that he was digging his own grave2 nevertheless he obstinately persisted in his daring attempt4 ,illustration3 8,,syrens04 ,,project ,,of ,,panneau4 ,what anguish he suffered while he awaited the decision of the jury on the winding staircase that constituted the ,bridge of ,sighs for the young daubers of ,petrograd6 ,and justly so1 for when his name was called and he appeared before the tribunal1 he saw his canvas crossed out by two furious strokes of crayon1 and he had to listen to an official rebuke by the president4 ,the next day he quit the ,academy under the impassive glances of the two bearded sphinxes of pink marble1 emerging from the gloomy twilight4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,hut 7,,savoy74 ,,drawing ,a ,,wrong ,,start ,leon was free now and left alone with his pride in his recent revolt2 but there was also a great void in his soul4 ,a country holiday out at ,pavlovsk1 the delightful suburban residence district where ,constantine1 the grand duke-poet1 lived1 afforded him salutary diversion4 ,in the beautiful ,english park--the loveliest in all ,russia--1 where every clump of trees1 every hill1 every lawn forms part of a grandly-devised and complex general plan conceived by an architectural genius2 in this park1 in which he walked about carrying the burden of his liberty--a melancholy figure1 he found what he lacked most3 a friend4 ,this new-found friend was a cartoonist by the name of ,shpak1 a pupil of ,repine1 and1 though but a mediocre artist1 yet one who gave himself to painting with a passionate and unselfish spirit4 ,he guided ,bakst in looking for gmotifs_/g1 spurred him on to direct observation of ,nature1 and awakened in him the proper respect for his profession4 ,but this influence soon gave way to another4 ,illustration3 ,,huts ,,in ,,the ,,mountains 7,,savoy74 ,,drawing ,luck would have it that ,bakst1 during that same autumn1 chanced to meet ,albert ,nikolaievitch ,benois1 the celebrated water-colorist who had no rival in ,russia4 ,he was a member of that 8dynasty0 of ,benoises who have played so prominent a part in the artistic development of ,russia4 ,albert ,benois1 a handsome1 chivalrous and affable man1 handled the brush with remarkable ease4 ,he possessed a technique that was as natural for him as gbel canto_/g singing is to the ,neapolitan beggar4 ,but while his productions1 at the same time that they possessed certain qualities of good taste and true knowledge of his art1 nevertheless were rather too tame1 their success in the eyes of the public was complete4 ,this success of the 8master01 who was fted and flattered by his aristocratic and feminine gentourage_/g1 and who was unanimously elected to the presidency of the society of water-color painters1 dazzled young ,bakst1 blunted for a while in him the haughty pride of the seeker after new truths1 and stimulated other ambitions in him4 ,the fierce rebel who sneered at the ,academy suddenly craved ,success6 ,he achieved a success that was immediate1 brilliant1 and disastrous4 ,soon he began to neglect landscape painting in favor of the society portrait4 ,having tasted the apple1 he next painted ,eve4 ,and1 as he abandoned himself to these effeminate and futile pursuits with that same insatiable fervor with which he went into everything1 he undertook1 he simply allowed himself to drift4 ,besides1 his good friend ,shpak was no longer there to awaken his sleeping artistic conscience--he had died quite suddenly4 ,serov1 too1 was far away in ,moscow and unable to warn him4 ,when ,i questioned him about this period of his life of which there are few traces left1 ,bakst spoke about them quite eloquently1 yes1 even persistently4 ,he took evident pleasure in this confession2 he seemed even to relish the mortification that it must have cost4 ,was it that in this race toward the abyss he tasted something of that spirit of adventure1 of that happy faculty of spending without counting1 of giving oneself body and soul to ,god or the ,devil1 which1 indeed1 was a part of his nature8 ,or was he dreaming of those pretty hands of women1 slender but strong1 which stroked his curly hair8 ,as far as we are concerned1 we must content ourselves with recounting briefly the outstanding facts in the early history of our friend and hero4 ,the most important of these is a long stay abroad4 ,at ,paris he made friends with ,albert ,edelfeldt1 a ,finnish painter and a remarkable man1 to whose lot it fell to break the ground for the birth of a national art in his own country1 in that he transmitted to it the enlightened knowledge of ,france4 ,it should be noted in passing that all the ,norse revivals which endowed the ,scandinavian countries with an intense and original artistic life had their origin on the banks of the ,seine4 ,edelfeldt was neither a creative genius nor an artist in the vanguard4 ,he stuck to the cautious methods of a ,bastien,lepage4 ,but he was a forceful and able painter4 ,some of his canvases are to be found in ,paris1 among them1 if ,i remember correctly1 his portrait of ,pasteur4 ,the habit of working outdoors1 the study of daylight and its effect upon massive subjects which ,bakst pursued with his new friend who also in some respects became his teacher1 contributed powerfully toward his success in performing the enormous task that was soon thrust upon his youthful energy4 ,the ,russian government asked the ,prodigal ,son ,illustration3 ,,ix 8,,sheherazade0 ,,ballet4 ,,first ,,eunuch4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,x ,,an ,,inferior ,,deity4 8,,narcissus0 ,,ballet4 7,,gouache7 of the ,imperial ,academy to paint a canvas that was to have for its subject the arrival of ,admiral ,avellan in ,paris4 ,perhaps the reader remembers that this visit which1 unless ,i am very much mistaken1 took place in #ahic1 was one of the first formal ceremonies arranged in connection with the nascent ,russo,french alliance4 ,this canvas1 the result of painstaking and honest labor1 which displays a freshness of color and a virtuosity of touch that is by no means vulgar1 is preserved today in the ,navy ,museum at ,petrograd4 ,was the young rebel of yesterday to become the ,roll or the ,mentzel of the imperial fastes8 ,today we know that nothing of the sort happened4 ,one afternoon as ,bakst1 back from ,paris1 was lording it over a tea table surrounded by beautiful ladies1 and was basking in the sunshine of his reputation1 with flattering chatter all about him1 he noticed a young man enter whose manners at first offended him4 ,with a monocle in his eye1 with haughty pride writ across his darkcomplected face1 roundshouldered1 attired in the student's green blouse with blue collar1 he carried on the conversation with an ease that bordered upon disdain and insult4 ,yet in the very arrogance of the young upstart there was something that fascinated4 ,bakst took him aside and1 when he pressed him for an expression of opinion as to what he thought of his painting1 the young man replied candidly that1 while he had the profoundest respect for the technical mastery of his questioner1 the painting itself absolutely displeased him1 and for good cause4 ,this young man's name was ,alexander ,benois4 ,as for ,bakst1 little did he imagine that he had arrived that afternoon at a turning point in his artistic career4 ,illustration ,,the ,,club ,for a number of years a group of students from ,may ,college a private institution1 had been in the habit of meeting at the home of their comrade1 ,alexander ,benois4 ,among them was ,constantine ,somoff1 a son of the venerable director of the ,hermitage1 and the future originator of 8,echoes of ,days ,past02 ,philosophov who later1 when he was associated with ,dimitri ,merejkovsky1 was destined to become one of the revivers of religious sentiment in ,russia2 and others besides who afterward constituted the nucleus of the society named 8,the ,artistic ,world0 and who still later supplied the staff of the ,russian ,ballet4 ,unique1 indeed1 was the atmosphere of this house4 ,i have already had occasion to speak of the ,benois family4 ,they were the descendants of one of those numerous immigrants who for more than a century1 from the accession of ,peter the ,great till the ,moscow ,fire1 were called upon to help in the transformation of ,russia4 ,all of these newcomers went through a similar experience3 the tremendous opportunities for initiative1 the vast geographical extent and the artistic impulses of the young empire called forth the highest development of their abilities4 ,many a mediocre artist--or at least one assumed to be mediocre--who had become half suffocated amid the rabble of the western world1 became transfigured in these favorable surroundings4 ,the originality of the ,russian character1 the breadth of view of the ggrandsseigneurs_/g of ,catherine ,,ii's time1 the primitive simplicity of the life of the people--all this stirred their imagination4 ,and so these men1 who transplanted into ,russia the artistic methods of the ,west1 the conceptions of style and the traditions of art that had matured in ,europe1 became ,russians themselves in heart and spirit4 ,more than that3 it is to these 8,russianized0 fellowcountrymen of ours that1 in a large measure1 we owe the birth of a modern ,russian art4 ,the ,benoises were related to the ,cavos family1 a veritable progeny of artists4 ,alexander's maternal grandfather had been a noted composer of music1 his uncle a theatrical architect of distinction4 ,the ,cavos family were of ,venetian origin and never lost contact with their former ,illustration3 ,a ,,street ,,in ,,la ,,vilette 7,,paris74 ,,stage ,,decoration ,,for 8,,alaidin0 fatherland2 the ,benoises had ,french blood in their veins4 ,all this is of importance to those who are interested in looking for the origin of certain aspirations1 of certain artistic inclinations and habits of mind1 in atavism or in the call of blood4 ,all of which did not prevent the ,benois brothers1 two of whom we already know and the third one of whom was an architect and later was made rector of the ,academy of ,fine ,arts1 from becoming the eminent ,russian artists that in fact they are4 ,as for ,alexander1 from earliest childhood he possessed all the qualities needed for becoming1 if not an intellectual leader1 at least an intellectual centre4 ,his general culture1 broad indeed and so varied as to have become eclectic2 a certain pedagogic inclination1--a tendency to instruct1 to educate1 to make ideas spring forth2 added to this1 a liveliness of temperament1 an acuteness of perception which made him a malcontent1 a wideawake dreamer--all these rare qualities determined his life's work4 ,his attempts at painting1 excepting only his theatrical creations1 never seemed able to free themselves of a certain amateurishness4 ,but this was a natural complement to the fact that he was primarily a theoretician or rather a man of artistic tastes who reenforces his intuitions and his sensibilities with an exact sense of logic and with the true talent of a writer4 ,for many years ,alexander ,benois has been the most famous critic of ,russia4 ,he is passionate and imaginative4 ,he proceeds either by invective or by panegyric4 ,he is a thunderbolt4 ,he gets worked up over some artist1 some idea4 ,oftimes he is mistaken and his candidate for fame fails4 ,that is due to the fact that ,benois1 who had really constructed his hero from his imagination1 endowed him with his own ideas1 and magnified his own conceptions in him1 would suddenly1 some nice day1 leave the poor wretch to his own designs4 ,when ,bakst was admitted to this group1 or club1 the school boys had become students and the original circle had widened4 ,philosophov had introduced into it a cousin of his1 just in from the provinces1--a fat1 chubby lad1 exceedingly free in his manners1 dictatorial and quite aggressive1 inexhaustible in paradoxes which at times were absurd1 but which he defended to the limit without in the least attempting to be polite about it4 ,benois was the soul of this group2 the newcomer was to become its will1 its moving power--he was to lead it to its supremest heights4 ,the name of this fellow from the provinces was ,serge ,diaghileff4 ,now what was it that transpired during these interminable confabs8 ,the club had set itself up as a supreme court which was to judge the quick and the dead4 ,before doing anything constructive--they didn't know themselves what--its members first wanted to wipe out everything existing4 ,they would agree upon the victime1 appoint someone as prosecutor1 and then conduct a trial4 ,the defendant might be a ,shishkin or a ,verestchagin--in any case he was one of those celebrities whose wrongly acquired reputation was debasing the real character of ,russian genius in the eyes of the whole world6 ,but this whole work of tearing down could not satisfy this enthusiastic group of young people4 ,they felt the need of giving themselves over to something1 of consuming themselves ,illustration3 ,,xi ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,ballet 8,,orientales04 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xii ,a ,,negro',s ,,costume 7,,sheherazade7 for something4 ,at first their idol was ,tchaikovsky1 the composer of the 8,sleeping ,beauty04 ,tchaikovsky had already become famous2 there was therefore no 8,battle of ,hernani0 to fight4 ,it was merely a question with them of which work of this master should be given preference4 ,they decided upon the 8,queen of ,spades0 and placed it upon the pinnacle4 ,what thrilled our friends about this work was the fact that it conjured up the #ahth century in ,russia4 ,the action of the opera1 the text for which was taken from a story by ,pouchkine1 takes place amid a setting that is an exact reproduction of 8,old ,petrograd01--amidst a scenery that is familiar and famous4 ,the promenade in the summer garden1 the little bridge over the winter canal--this1 when displayed on the stage1 called to mind anew the beauty of the venerable capital--a beauty ever present1 but unappreciated and neglected--and rehabilitated its declining fame4 ,if ,i have dwelt rather at length upon the feats and exploits of a group of unknown youths1 it is due to the fact that these young men1 who after theater would walk along the quais during the 8white night0 singing a duet from the 8,queen of ,spades01 or would lean pensively over the cold granite parapet to listen to the clock of the ,cathedral of ,peter and ,paul pealing forth its crystal melody over the gloomy walls of the prison fortress1--it is due1 ,i say1 to the fact that these young men were destined to reshape ,russian artistic sense from top to bottom4 ,later1 on the eve of the new century1 the 8,mir ,iskousstva0 ,society was founded2 with the generous aid of ,princess ,tenicheff1 a magazine was published2 art expositions were arranged4 ,a new epoch was beginning4 ,bakst helped to shape it--and we already know that he gave himself to every task whole heartedly4 ,at this point ,i do not propose to narrate the story of 8,mir ,iskousstva04 ,it was a revolution and was outrageously attacked as such4 ,but its exponents held that it saved ,russian art4 ,today some people contend that it was a menace to art4 ,a quarter of a century lies between these two conflicting opinions4 ,it is not for me to judge which is right4 ,but ,bakst's participation in the work of this society forms a beautiful page in the life of my friend and therefore1 too1 of this story of mine4 ,and my task would be incomplete were ,i to omit giving a brief description of this great movement of ideas which for a long time determined the future of ,russian art4 ,illustration3 ,,stage ,,decoration ,,for ,,chopin',s 8,,nocturnes0 8,,mir ,,iskousstva0 ,the small vanguard took position hastily2 impetuously it fell upon the enemy4 ,diaghileff1 charging at the head of this handful of friends1 sounded the rallying cry4 ,he was successful4 ,moscow1 too1 had its raising of the shield4 ,serov supported the movement4 ,levitan1 the landscape painter1 contributed his tremendous popularity to the young cause4 ,during this recruiting fever mistakes were not wanting2 for instance1 ,vasnetzoff1 the insipidly sweet imitator of icons1 was singled out for praise4 ,he had soon to be dropped4 ,but instead ,golovine1 ,polienov and others joined them who drew upon the real popular sources4 ,it is further true that they almost succeeded in 8reforming0 ,vroubel1 the great romantic decorator who was haunted by the ,demon4 ,above everything this group was looking for allies from abroad4 ,these were to be found at the very gates of ,petrograd4 ,a 8young ,finland0 was rising about ,edelfeldt as founder--the ,axel ,galiens1 the ,jaernefeldts1 the ,enkels2 in short1 all those who were destined to endow the 8country of a thousand lakes0 with a national art4 ,the ,finns accordingly took part in the first exposition in which 8,mir ,iskousstva0 faced ,russian public opinion4 ,at the second there appeared ,french guests who after three generations found their way back to ,russia4 ,this proved a decisive feat4 ,an end was thus put to the isolation in which a waning ,russian art found itself4 ,for1 at that time the whole ,european artistic movement was ignored in ,russia4 ,the prize winners of the ,academy would go to ,rome to perfect themselves and would there copy the g,stanze_/g of ,raphael1 or else1 perhaps1 they would go to study historical painting under ,piloty1 the ,de la ,roche of ,munich4 ,the moving spirits of the school--a ,kramskoi1 or a ,repine--would return from their western travels with nothing but contempt for the 8futile0 7as they called them7 masterpieces of beautiful painting or else an infatuation for the virtuosity of the brush of a ,fortuny or a ,meissonnier4 ,diaghileff and ,benois flung the doors wide open4 ,a motley crowd enters pellmell2 even the 8decadents0 of the ,viennese ,secession1 with ,renoir and ,carrire4 ,mistakes are made2 there is as yet no scale of values2 the obscure ,belgian1 ,lon ,frederick1 is put upon a pedestal while ,czanne is ignored until #aijd4 ,the reason for this is the fact that this group at first has no positive program4 ,but its negative influence is inestimable4 ,repine1 one of the most powerful exponents of this ideologic naturalism which ,i have mentioned in passing1 launched a counterattack in the name of the survivers of traditional academic style4 ,diaghileff1 by his virulent reply1 threw the champion of routine out of the saddle4 ,it is a great period of ringing battles1 of hard contests with the adversary who mangled even ,ingres' very name4 ,these struggles were the more heroic since the public remained averse to them4 ,the editorial offices of their magazine were the hothouse in which new ideas were hatched and the staff headquarters where the big offensives were planned4 ,now1 the editorial staff itself was divided into two sections4 ,in the large salon we find ,philosophov1 handsome and slender as a thoroughbred courser1 who meets the contributors to the literary section4 ,there is ,merejkovsky1 who contributes his best works to the review and who introduces us to the art and the doctrines of ,tolstoy and ,dostoievsky2 ,leon ,shestov1 the apostle of 8eradication0 with his emaciated face of a ,jewish ,socrates2 ,rosanov who pried into the very depths of the sexual problem1 a towering spirit who used to bare his inmost thoughts with candor4 ,of all these men1 who were radiant in their young fame1 ,rosanov alone did not profess a supreme philosophical contempt for the fine arts4 ,the painters1 accordingly1 would shrink back from the haughtiness and the affected attitude of the literary folk and would seek refuge in the office of the secretarygeneral1 the headquarters of the artistic section4 ,there they would find ,bakst1 who was collecting the material that oftentimes was queer enough1 and who in fact worked out the whole review4 ,no task was too hard for him4 ,he would group the various component parts and make up the pages4 ,it would happen that ,diaghileff1 disconcerted over an engraving that came out badly and that had the earmarks of a confused work1 would come to ,bakst who would take up the work on the plate and give form to an amorphous jumble of touches4 ,another one of his steady tasks was that of decorating the book1 of designing the cover1 of drawing the ornamented letters1 of supplying the tailpieces4 ,in this connection it should be recalled that the art of book decorating was revived at the end of the last century4 ,the ,english1 with ,walter ,crane at the head1 started the procession4 ,it was an ,englishman1 furthermore1--,aubrey ,beardsley--who designed arabesques of extraordinary sharpness and delicacy upon the geometrical quadrangles of the pages4 ,this new method was also being experimented upon in ,petrograd4 ,a number of artists of the second generation of 8,mir ,iskousstva01 such as ,narbout and ,mitrochin1 are exclusively 8vignettistes04 ,as for this first group1 they had to do everything and accordingly they did everything4 ,benois1 ,somov1 that other ,russianized ,frenchman ,lanceray--all were experts at this art4 ,bakst1 too1 went through it4 ,there are magazine covers of his extant ,illustration3 ,,xiii ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,oscar ,,wilde',s 8,,salomea04 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xiv 8,,phaedra0 ,,tragedy4 ,,ph,,dra',s ,,nurse ,illustration3 ,a ,,young ,,beotian4 78,,narcissus0 ,,ballet74 ,,water ,,colour on which statuettes in ,directoire style flank a medaillon1 or on which there are artistic frames4 ,at the same time he tried his hands at pure illustrating2 there is1 for instance1 a water-color of his which illustrated 8,the ,nose01 a grotesque story by ,gogol4 ,today we look upon these designs as the first attempts at the masterful costume-pages of later days4 8,bakst has hands of gold01 wrote ,benois in his history of ,russian painting1 a work of which we shall speak again later4 ,he admired his manual skill and the elasticity of his spirit and of his workmanship4 ,but he was unconscious of his powerful personality4 ,later on1 dissatisfied with pen sketching that was then reproduced by the mechanical process of engraving1 the group tried themselves at original lithography4 ,here1 again1 ,bakst was successful3 a head of ,levitan brings out in sharp juxtaposition the intense black and white of the drawing4 ,thus1 then1 we see ,bakst working away at his table1 which is covered with waste paper1 with photographs and proofs4 ,around him1 people talk idly1 or loll about the couches1 or draw caricatures1 or debate4 ,then1 through a cloud of smoke produced by ten cigarettes1 ,diaghileff comes rushing in1 chasing a new rainbow4 ,he tells of his latest discovery1 or he scoffs at some idol that he adored the day before4 ,his enthusiasm is as intermittent as it is uncompromising4 ,he is the life of this party of outspoken1 unreserved painters2 he cares little for men of letters4 ,alexander ,benois1 on the other hand1 forms the connecting link between the two clans2 he arranges and coordinates everything by virtue of his broad and supple understanding4 ,soon new initiates--,grabar and ,jaremitch1 the artistwriters1 and ,kouzmin1 the poetmusician1 and others--join in the work of strengthening the somewhat difficult union of these two sections4 ,within this community of painters1 however1 there was little agreement as to the road that should be followed4 ,they agreed in their hatreds1 but differed as to aims4 ,diaghileff1 always hypersensitive to the sensations of the day and ready to take his ideas out of the clear sky1 would misjudge the value of ephemeral tendencies and therefore ,illustration3 ,,cnossos ,,harbour 7,,crete74 ,,sketch ,,for ,,album ,illustration3 ,,stage ,,decoration ,,for ,,prologue ,,in ,,oriental ,,style at times get himself into an impasse4 ,thus he allowed himself to be carried away into enthusing over that atrocious 8modern style01 the architectural vestiges of which today disgrace every large city in the world4 ,bakst together with his older friend ,serov set himself against painting in the style of ,gustav ,klimt and against architecture la ,olbrich in the name of an honest1 direct and robust art4 ,the weak spot about all this combativeness and intellectual ardor1 which proved fatal and unavoidable amid these divergent points of view1 was the lack of creative ability on the part of the group4 ,this group had deposed and duly trampled under foot the art of the 8wanderers0 with its social tendencies and its worship of the moujik4 ,it had done this to the greater glory of an art that is unselfish and creative4 ,but almost immediately its members turned toward literature4 ,among all those former members of the ,club 7,i except only ,serov and the ,moscovites71 there was not a single painter in the real sense of the word4 ,benois1 who never when working at a canvas could completely overcome his amateurish clumsiness1 ,lanceray1 later ,doboujinsky--they all were first and foremost illustrators1 rather than painters1 who were steeped in precious recollections1 who gleaned from every style and who discovered forgotten beauties4 ,with this select group1 then1 the gmotif_/g prevailed more and more over its gexecution_/g2 the brush became a means of interpreting a history perceived with a sort of sentimental homesickness mixed with irony4 ,is it surprising1 then1 that the retrospective attitude got the upper hand more and more1 and that the offshoots of this movement were sacrificed to a propaganda for the past8 ,as a matter of fact1 discovery followed upon discovery4 ,preceding generations1 going into ,russian extremes1 became infatuated with the idea of progress4 ,accordingly they either ignored or misunderstood their national past4 ,then1 under ,nicholas ,i the czar-gendarme1 the old architecture was disfigured by ,german builders4 ,as for the unique and grandiose beauty of the structures in the style of the ,empire and of ,louis ,,xvi1--buildings without parallel in the occidental world--these were confounded by the public with that implacable hatred that it bore toward the regime that had erected and that was maintaining them4 ,an educated ,russian could not possibly find anything beautiful about the ,winter ,palace1 this fine masterpiece of ,rastrelli2 he would decline to admire the ,admiralty ,building because the defeat of ,tsushima was prepared within its formidable walls4 ,the writer of this sketch was himself brought up in this atmosphere of hateful contempt for the 8official ugliness0 and the 8style of the barrack40 ,benois and his friends discovered this slandered beauty and became enamoured of it4 ,later on we shall see how ,bakst discharged his debt of gratitude to old ,petrograd1 this wonderful city which rose miraculously from the surface of the waves4 ,but the surprises were not yet over4 ,in his history of modern ,russian painting1 ,benois with boldness and with charming eloquence recalled the founders of this style of painting1 the portrait-painters of the eighteenth century1 especially ,levitzky and ,borovikovsky4 ,he cast ,illustration3 ,,xv ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,hindu ,,ballet 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xvi ,,mme4 ,,ida ,,rubinstein ,,as ,,st4 ,,sebastian ,illustration3 ,,xvii ,,the ,,imperial ,,palace 78,,the ,,martyrdom ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebastian07 ,illustration3 ,,xviii ,,mme4 ,,ida ,,rubinstein ,,in 8,,the ,,martyrdom ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebastian0 ,illustration3 ,,stage ,,decoration ,,for ,d',,annunzio',s ,,tragedy 8,,la ,,pisanella0 overboard all existing estimates and showed up the emptiness of the 8wanderers0 school4 ,but his justified and impetuous enthusiasm proved--or nearly so--the undoing of 8,mir ,iskousstva04 ,the magazine deteriorated before one's eyes4 ,side by side with it ,benois brought out a collection1 or analytical inventory1 called 8,the ,art ,treasures of ,russia04 ,the creator became a collector4 ,ceaselessly he and his friends collected4 ,bric-a-brac occupied a prominent place4 ,icons of the school of ,novgorod were dug up1 likewise family portraits done by serfs in the old households of the nobility1 mahogany furniture dating back to the ,peace of ,tilsit1 and popular likenesses4 ,for a time ,diaghileff allowed himself to drift4 ,as usual he treated this craze for the past on a grand scale4 ,he even resumed it in a definite effort of which ,i shall speak later4 ,but for the present he and his friends felt themselves reduced to the role of custodians of a museum or of benevolent guides1 a thing that was repugnant to his ambition and his temperament4 ,he looked for a way out4 ,the stage alone seemed to offer it4 ,naturalism had just won its greatest triumphs1 thanks to the ,moscow ,art ,theater4 ,but if comedy was taken possession of by the naturalists1 the opera and the ballet could react4 ,already ,mamontov1 the famous mcenas who discovered ,shaliapin1 had ordered stage decorations from the ,moscow painters1 ,vroubel and ,golovin4 ,at ,petrograd everything was given a trial4 ,i cannot1 without exceeding the limits set me1 speak at greater length of what became of this movement2 some day1 perhaps1 ,i shall be able to strike its balance4 ,as a matter of fact1 ,i have already had to enlarge considerably upon my subject in order to set the subject of my sketch down in his proper surroundings1 in that unique atmosphere1 created by historical and personal contingencies1 which is ignored for the most part by the ,russian people1 and which entirely escapes the attention of the foreign reader4 ,besides1 this union of a handful of men who were determined to restore the artistic greatness of their country was so brotherly1 so fraternal that it would be wrong to differentiate between their respective roles and artificially to isolate their efforts4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,,an ,,almee4 8,,sheherazade0 ,,ballet ,,the ,,three ,,knocks ,resolutely ,diaghileff turned his coworkers towards the theater4 ,the time was propitious4 ,vsevolojsky1 the director of the ,imperial theaters1 had just resigned his position which he had filled so brilliantly4 ,himself a dilettante nobleman and a man of good taste he had personally designed most of the costumes that1 under his direction1 were built for the ballet and the operas4 ,he had to a large extent reconstructed the ,russian and foreign repertoire1 devoting himself to ,tchaikovsky and making a place for ,wagner4 ,a galaxy of stars surrounded him4 ,marius ,petitpas1 the greatest living choreographer1 exercised his successful dictatorship over the ballet4 ,a brilliant young woman1 just out of school1 was about to eclipse the celebrated ,italian virtuosos4 ,highly respected painters--the ,shishkovs and the ,botcharovs--who were experts at the art of stage decoration1 executed the ideas of their director4 ,in short1 he did everything4 ,was it his fault that his activity fell within the worst epoch of a century that was called the stupid century8 ,is he to be blamed that the sources of his inspiration and the quality of the documents consulted by him bore the marks of that terrible decadence of the artistic instinct of which the year #aijj marks the climax and presages its end8 ,however that may be1 he prepared a glorious end for an obsolete art4 ,the old opera passed away in beauty4 ,yet with all the extraordinary perfection of execution1 a certain uneasiness was germinating4 ,vague manifestations of independence were threatening the rigorous traditional discipline4 ,in the midst of this crisis the helm was given to a young man4 ,prince ,serge ,volkonsky1 who had distinguished himself in the ,court theater by his splendid bearing and his clever acting1 belonged to one of the noblest ,russian families4 ,his grandfather had taken part in the famous 8,decembrist insurrection0 of #ahbe2 his grandmother had followed her husband to his ,siberian convict prison with a devotion that inspired ,nekrasov to write a celebrated poem4 ,volkonsky let the dead bury their dead and from the very first made his appeal to the young men and women--to ,diaghileff and his friends4 ,they plunged into their work3 a revival of ,delibes' 8,sylvia0 was decided upon4 ,the ,mir ,iskousstva painters agreed to make their first attack upon the stage together4 ,accordingly1 they divided up the work by acts1 ,alexander ,benois leading--,benois who even today1 after his successful collaboration with ,stravinsky1 retains a real feeling of reverence for ,delibes whom he places1 without hesitation1 in a class with ,wagner4 ,bakst and ,serov also collaborated4 ,but the opera was never put on4 ,there is a veritable hoode about this 8,sylvia01 which kept haunting the ,russian artists and yet was never produced4 ,the late ,andrianov1 an exceedingly good dancer1 was about to show an abridgement or sketch of this piece1 but the attempt came to naught2 ,fokine dreamed about it vainly for many years4 ,as to this first attempt at cooperative work1 it failed for personal reasons4 ,from the beginning ,volkonsky felt his prestige as manager ,illustration3 ,,xix ,,the 8,,women ,,of ,,good ,,humour0 ,,ballet4 ,,rinaldo4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xx ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for 8,,ph,,dra04 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xxi ,a ,,costume4 8,,narcissus0 ,,ballet ,illustration3 ,,xxii ,,the ,,pilgrim 78,,blue ,,god0 ,,ballet74 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,drawing ,,of ,a ,,living ,,model ,,for ,a ,,picture threatened by the consuming energy and the unscrupulous ambition of his 8employ01 ,diaghileff4 ,to be sure1 ,diaghileff1 conscious of his actual superiority1 carried himself as though he were the boss4 ,fearing he would be supplanted by this gmaire du palais_/g1 the director requested ,diaghileff to resign voluntarily4 ,diaghileff would do nothing of the sort4 ,exasperated1 ,volkonsky promptly discharged him1 by applying the famous 8paragraph three0 of the rules and regulations to his case1 by the terms of which the 8government secretary ,diaghileff0 was forever barred from all public appearance4 ,who knows but that to this act of administrative jealousy we owe the grandiose effort of the 8,russian ,season08 ,excluded from official life1 ,diaghileff1 the great gcondottiere_/g of art1 could unfold his full power6 ,diaghileff left1 his friends followed1 a great gap closed in about the director1 and several months later1 not being able to have the last say in a quarrel with a star who was both famous and powerful1 ,volkonsky had himself to resign and leave4 ,bakst1 however1 had not participated in this boycott of the prince2 he plunged into his work for its own sake4 ,but it was not at the ,marie ,theater that he made his real gdebut_/g4 ,grand-,duke ,vladimir ,alexandrovitch had brought back with him from one of his frequent trips to ,paris the text for a pantomime1 the author of which was ,fvre1 the comedian4 ,this play1 ,the ,heart of the ,marchioness01 found favor with the directors4 ,it was decided to play it at the ,hermitage ,theater1 an auditorium reserved exclusively for the ,imperial family and the members of the ,court4 ,it was connected with the ,winter ,palace by a passage4 ,the ,french actors of the ,michel ,theater1 under the direction of the gmatre de ballet_/g1 ,enrico ,cecchetti1 executed the pantomime before an audience of grand dukes and chamberlains4 ,vladimir entrusted the scenery to ,bakst4 ,the latter conceived a semicircular pavilion as stage setting4 ,for costumes he went straight to authentic sources and utilized the elements for devising a good ensemble4 ,he brought a new idea to the theater3 that of style4 ,that is1 at least1 what eye-witnesses claim2 nothing has been preserved of this work of his4 ,as the pantomime was tremendously successful1 the ,emperor had this show put on at a gala benefit performance in the ,marie ,theater--and this is how ,bakst for the first time appeared on the most famous of all ,russian stages4 ,this winter of #aijj1 then1 when for the first time he went upon the stage that1 according to ,goethe1 8means the universe01 decided his future4 ,who could today imagine what the fate of modern scenerie would be without the contribution of ,bakst8 ,and who could conceive of a ,bakst remaining a stranger to the theater8 ,it took him ten years to find his place4 ,the three knocks struck home4 ,for the first time the curtain rises over a work of ,bakst4 ,ten years later ,paris will crown 8,sheherazade04 ,,the ,,theban ,,gate ,meanwhile ,colonel ,teliakovsky had succeeded ,volkonsky4 ,he owed his appointment as director to the fact that he had been in the ,horseguards with ,baron 7later ,count7 ,freedericksz1 minister of the ,court4 ,a ludicrous figure he was--this horseman promoted ,illustration3 ,a ,,road ,,in ,,the ,,fields 7,,savoy74 ,,drawing to be stage manager--1 without either ideas or prestige and consequently unable to contribute anything of value4 ,but he gave others a free hand--and that is a great deal during a period of fermentation and revival4 ,thus1 soon after his appointment1 he authorized an experiment of far-reaching importance4 ,alexander ,theater was preparing to bring out ,euripides' tragedy1 8,hippolytus10 the attempt being made to produce it as nearly like the ancient original as possible4 ,the young stage director1 ,osarovsky1 hoped to make a grand gcoup_/g4 ,the play was translated by ,merejkovsky in exceedingly beautiful verse and with an extremely intense modern feeling4 ,among the ,russian intellectuals of that time1 ,nietzschean ideas were held in great fascination4 ,now1 in this early masterpiece the philosopher had transfigured the whole conception of the spirit of the ancients4 ,under the marble-like and placid guise of the ,greece of ,apollo's time he had revealed the ,dionysiac ecstacy1 the pathetic distress and the mystic impulse of the masses4 ,what had been considered as the key to their souls1 viz41 this sovereign and plastic art1 was but a sham emancipation4 ,for a quarter of a century the government had tried to curb turbulent youth by means of the classical ferule4 ,greek was loathed as much as was the royal blue of the gendarme uniform4 ,but the translation by ,merejkovsky and the enthusiastic eloquence of ,professor ,zielinski1 scholar and poet1 who commented upon it as 8the birth of tragedy01 caused great surprise and soon extreme fondness for it4 ,it was necessary1 however1 in order to bring about this rehabilitation of antiquity1 to make use of the best possible medium1 namely1 its consecration by the stage4 ,the scenery and costumes for 8,hippolytus0 were ordered from ,bakst4 ,after an interval of four years there followed 8,oedipus at ,colonn0 and ,sophocles' 8,antigone04 ,it was an arduous task indeed1 for the problem was that of adapting the essential dualism of the ,greek tragedy--its lyric choruses and its active players1 its dithyrambs and its dialogue1 ,dionysius and ,apollo--to the arrangement of the modern theater1 with its odd-shaped stage1 like a box opened toward the side of the spectators4 ,bakst made the attempt4 ,once having entered upon the road to ,thebes he solved the enigma of the ,sphinx without stumbling and forced open the gate4 ,by raising the background of the stage he made the foreground available for the gproscenium_/g1 with the altar of the god of the tragedy in the middle4 ,on this gproscenium_/g the choruses executed evolutions1 the choristers chanted the strophes and anti-strophes rhythmically1 while the ensemble of supernumeraries scanned certain final verses4 ,at the end the leader of the chorus would ascend the steps which connected the gproscenium_/g with the platform in order ,illustration3 ,,xxiii ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,act #dth ,,of ,d',,annunzio',s 8,,st4 ,,sebastian0 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xxiv ,,the ,,czarevitch',s ,,costume 78,,the ,,bird ,,of ,,fire07 ,illustration3 ,,xxv ,,project ,,of ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for 8,,sleeping ,,beauty0 ,illustration3 ,,xxvi ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,the ,,vault ,,scene 78,,st4 ,,sebastian07 to pronounce ,fate's supreme sentence upon the protagonist who had been prostrated by the gods4 ,thus1 for the first time1 an attempt was made at a logical dissociation of the rhythmic and dramatic elements of the ancient theater4 ,years were ,illustration3 ,a ,,branch4 ,,sketch to elapse before the ,german ,max ,reinhardt invented the monumental staircase and the gproscenium_/g of ,lysistrata2 and still a longer period until that same intrepid pioneer let loose upon the arena of a circus the hysterical multitude of a chorus of wild persons4 ,bakst was the first1 not only in ,russia1 but in the world1 to try to work out a stage and a conventional plastic language that was in accord with our modern conception of ancient art4 ,the ,greeks who faced each other in the tragic dilemmas of 8,hippolytus0 and especially of 8,oedipus0 were no longer those classical personages ,illustration3 ,a ,,road ,,in ,,upper ,,savoy4 ,,drawing with rounded gestures1 draped in white1 blue or red tunics that looked like a schoolboy's drawing after a plastercast relief of ,phideas4 ,they displayed the angular shoulders of the warriors on one of ,aegina's basreliefs2 the conical helmet with a visor protecting the brow and the nose1 as well as the metal shin protectors1 tended to simplify the lines of the actor4 ,on the other hand the garments were brightcolored2 the purple robe of ,creon was resplendent with its ornamentation copied from ,ionian pottery4 ,the sixth century dispossessed the fifth1 archaic art crowded out the classical canons1 the intense colors of many hues ,illustration3 ,,project ,,of ,,landscape 7,,upper ,,savoy74 ,,drawing obtained preference over the marble whiteness of the statues4 ,people breathed again2 they felt themselves freed4 ,the great age of ,pericles1 which for three centuries had been exploited by every academy of ,europe1 which had been vulgarised1 debased1 enervated by the ,alma,tademas and the ,siemiradskis1 seemed gloomy1 formal1 deathly cold4 ,besides1 an art that is perfect and definite1 and that has reached its zenith affords no occasion for further research1 for further development4 ,it condemns its followers either to imitating it or else to diminishing it4 ,instinctively ,bakst took issue with the academic rules4 ,the fact that he possessed this divination of the right road to take is what placed him several years ahead of his contemporaries4 ,for he was quite alone in his passion for this ,greek antiquity which at every new turn seemed different from every preconceived notion4 ,his friends of the 8,mir ,iskousstva0 were entirely taken up by their craze for rococo curios or for the majesty of imperial architecture2 ,diaghileff was looking for ,russian portraits of the eighteenth century and was preparing the famous exposition of the ,tauride ,palace2 ,alexander ,benois was living at ,versailles1 fascinated by the sight of regal splendor4 ,the only one who followed his efforts with solicitude was ,serov4 ,so that1 when ,bakst felt the urgent need of testing his intuitions by direct observations1 of knowing positively what he had merely guessed at1 he succeeded in persuading the great portraitist to join him on his voyage of exploration into archaic ,greece--a journey that was one of the outstanding events of his intellectual life4 ,our great master has reserved to himself the task of some day telling in detail the thrilling events of this journey4 ,with that devotion to friendship that is characteristic of him he has kept a minute account of the utterances and impressions of ,serov's manly and delicate mind4 ,it will make a splendid volume some day4 ,serov had guided ,bakst's first steps4 ,this ,greek expedition was ,bakst's return gift4 ,with the help of these antique realities1 which served him as striking arguments1 he turned the tormented realist1 the sensitive psychologist that ,serov was1 to a study of syntheticized painting expressing itself in broad and severe forms4 ,and so ,serov1 pupil of ,repine the 8wanderer01 portraitist of important ,moscow merchants and of great ,russian intellectuals1 brought back from this voyage a memorable 8,abduction of ,europa04 ,his days1 however1 were counted4 ,and once again ,bakst had to continue his solitary way unaided4 ,illustration3 ,,xxvii 8,,terror ,,antiquus04 ,,first ,,golden ,,medal4 #aiaa ,,universal ,,exhibition 7,,brussels7 ,illustration3 ,,xxviii 8,,terror ,,antiquus0 7,,detailed7 ,illustration3 ,a ,,road ,,in ,,the ,,fields4 ,,drawing ,,terror ,,antiquus ,bakst did not go to ,greece in order to say his 8prayer upon the ,acropolis01 to venerate the ,attic serenity1 8the sublime grace and the sweet grandeur0 discovered by ,winkelmann and ,goethe4 ,he visited hot ,argos1 and ,mycen with its tomb of the ,atrides which several years before had inspired the poet d',annunzio with the panting dialogue of his 8,dead ,city02 ,mycen whose gates called forth in him something like a homesickness for ,egypt4 ,he strolled about ,crete1 among the remnants of the palace of ,minos1 dreaming about ,medea the ,sorceress1 about the ,minotaur conquered by ,theseus1 about the monsters1 the ,titans1 all those brutal or mystic figures--the ,gorgons1 the ,eurynies--who by their incessant assaults shook the pedestal where the ,divine ,archer defied them4 ,the fantastic and passionate conception of the stage decorations for the ,greek tragedies and ballets which were to earn such applause in ,paris had its origin in these meditations of his in the occult presence of ,hellas' clear sky4 ,but there was something else that made his heart beat fast as he strolled among the cliffs of ,crete4 ,that was the wind which blew up from the shore--a wind that was perfumed and that seemed to come from the vast ,orient hidden in the fog4 ,who knows but that in such moments the call of the ancient ,asiatic was indistinctly awakened in this ,occidental ,jew8 ,certain it is that underneath the chisel and the polishing tool of ,greek culture he discovered the lavish1 ardent and sensual oriental raw material4 ,and the archaic sculptures1 massive1 with rigid frontlets1 straightway transported him to ,egypt4 ,then1 too1 his readings--,maspro and the book by ,fustel de ,coulanges about the 8,antique ,city0 which had captivated him--confirmed his theories4 ,he therefore did not hesitate to take from the ,egyptians the ornaments in live colors with which he embellished the costumes for his 8,oedipus04 ,one cannot help but wonder1 when one lets 8,cleopatra01 8,helen of ,sparta0 and 8,st4 ,sebastian0 pass in review1 what would have happened if this extraordinary man had not been born on the banks of the ,neva and in the fullness of the nineteenth century6 ,would he1 under the pharaohs1 have added new figures to the dancers on the tombs of ,sakkarah8 ,or earlier still1 would he1 as a ,phnician sailor1 in his leisure moments have designed the figures on the prows of the triremes of ,hamilcar8 ,he would well have fitted into the brilliant1 arid1 implacable atmosphere which forms the setting for ,flaubert's 8,salamb04 ,but enough of these digressions4 ,what he had observed and meditated upon during these feverish weeks he intended to mass together in one single work1 a decorative synthesis and at the same time a philosophical symbol3 ,terror antiquus1 ancient terror6 ,in the foreground of the picture1 cut off by the frame at knee-length1 a colossal archaic ,cypris rises4 ,the hair of the idol is draped about its head in fluted curls2 the large eyes with their distended pupils have a magic fixedness2 a ferocious grin plays about the corners of the lips4 ,the goddess carries a blue dove in the palm of her hand4 ,powerfully modeled1 she turns her back to the picture1 to the fury of the elements1 to the panic distress of men4 ,impassive1 implacable she turns away from this world which is tumbling4 ,behind the statue the eye ,illustration3 ,a ,,blind ,,alley ,,in ,,fiesole4 ,,drawing beholds a landscape1 an archipelago seen from a high elevation1 and displayed like a map in relief2 cliffs submerged by the rising waves2 diminutive humanity seeking refuge under the porticos of the temples and attempting to escape the inevitable2 an enormous stroke of lighting rending the air4 ,it is the twilight of the gods1 the last judgment of the ,greek world1 the end of ,atlantis4 ,with its mysterious mixture of congealed grandeur and mad anguish the panel1 when it was exhibited 7if ,i am not mistaken7 with the ,association of ,russian ,artists1 created something of a sensation4 ,people flocked to the lectures of ,viatcheslav ,ivanov1 the poetphilosopher and author of a treaty on ,dionysios and the religion of the gods1 who explained this ,greek ,apocalypse4 ,as for ,bakst1 this work of his constituted a striking but isolated episode in his life as an artist4 ,man of the theater that he was1 his aim was that of utilizing and transforming gspace_/g in accordance with his vision2 here he transformed a surface1 in the sense of material and philosophic depth4 ,,the ,,spiral ,,road ,into this period of researches and visions in ,greece falls many an episode that is entirely different but no less significant4 ,since #aijc ,bakst had been using the ballet of the 8,dolls' ,fairy0 on the imperial stage4 ,it furnished the prototype of those romantic productions1 of those entertainments for children which are colorless reflections of ,hoffmann's ,coppelius or of ,andersen's tales and in which one sees toys awakened to an artificial and mechanical life by a magic wand--entertainments1 furthermore1 which have become vapid by their being produced on innumerable ,german stages4 ,also1 he rendered homage thereby to that 8old ,petrograd0 that was dear to the members of 8,mir ,iskousstva04 ,the prologue1 which represents the busy coming and going in a doll shop in the capital city of #ahcj1 is acted by a big crowd of people--shopattendants1 customers of every sort1 small merchants and grand ladies1 lackeys and grenadiers1 mailmen and policemen produced on the stage as the naive action unfolds4 ,all these masques and costumes are absolutely authentic1 but they seem fragile and delicate like a dream4 ,the fact is that the documents from which the gdossier_/g of the decorator was constructed were anything but commonplace4 ,bakst did not seek his information from the more direct sources supplied by the engravings of that time3 he went to the show cases of porcelain ware4 ,too little are the charming products of ,russian porcelain makers--the ,gardners and the ,popovs--known4 ,to be sure1 they often merely misrepresent1 in their style1 the models from ,saxony or ,svres1 but they do it with a naive flash of pure color that appeals to rustic artisans4 ,but side by side with such imitations these obscure ,russian artists modeled an entire little world of their own in tender clay--cossacks in uniform1 drunken serfs1 nude women1 coiffed 8en cabriolet0 and burying their chilly hands in fur muffs4 ,whatever tastefully conventional there was in these figures1 ,bakst transposed into the language of the theater4 ,ever since that time this form of ballad 7or 8boutade01 as it was called ,illustration3 ,,xxix ,,submarine ,,monsters 78,,sadko0 ,,opera74 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xxx ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,the ,,ballet 8,,women ,,of ,,good ,,humour0 7,,second ,,version74 ,,gouache ,illustration3 ,,xxxi ,a ,,bacchanalian ,,dance 7,,joseph7 ,,by ,r4 ,,strauss ,illustration3 ,,xxxii ,mr4 ,,nijinsky ,,as 8,,blue ,,god04 7,,gouache7 in the time of ,cardinal ,mazarin71 the dancing for which had been designed by ,serge ,legat1 a splendidly endowed young man who committed suicide in a fit of passion and despair over a love affair1 has maintained its place on the program4 ,examples of it are the 8,carnival01 8,phantom of the ,rose0 and 8,secret of ,suzanne01 that delightful littlework in which one already sees ,napoleon evolving from ,bonaparte4 ,illustration3 ,,in ,,upper ,,savoy4 ,,drawing ,but ,bakst had by no means given up his painter's easel for his theatrical sketches4 ,numerous portraits of his bear out this fact1 such as that of the philosopher and lay theologian ,vassili ,rosanov1 of his friend ,benois1 of ,levitan the remote emulator of ,corot who discovered the intimate and poignant beauty of the humble ,russian landscape1 of ,diaghileff and his old nurse4 ,painted with keen observation1 with facility of touch and in vivid colors that spread over broad surfaces1 these portraits coming from the school of ,serov showed nothing of that painful affectation1 of that anguish of definitive1 absolute expression with which the ,moscow master often endowed his canvases to the point of tiresomeness4 ,in the case of ,bakst there is nothing of the exact analyst who dissects and torments the soul of his model4 ,with our artist everything seems to be improvisation1 happy inspiration2 it is a style for which the fine term 8primesautier0 7readywit71 once coined by ,montaigne1 is exactly appropriate4 ,his growing familiarity1 however1 with ,greek art1 which is in a high degree plastic and linear1 turned him in the direction of more concentrated and more simplified processes4 ,the painting of vases in the merest outlines and on flat surfaces neatly silhouetted1 imperceptibly drew him into the path followed by ,ingres4 ,he therefore gave up his paint brushes in favor of the lead pencil and the colored crayon4 ,in his portraits thus designed it is the line which circumscribes the person1 which sets it out in space1 which expresses its character and suggests its size4 ,thus the ,russian painter is already en route towards that strictly linear transposition of a body of three dimensions without the aid of the model1 or of any standard of values1 or of any material record2 a style which some day ,pablo ,picasso employed as master and ,modigliani as spiritual dreamer4 ,but even all this could not satisfy that fever for activity1 that fecund restlessness which at all times determined the tremendous productivity of ,bakst4 ,it was necessary1 people were agreed1 to offer1 in opposition to the ,academy of ,fine ,arts1 managed by pedantic dilettants who were embittered by the triumph of the new art1 a form of instruction at once free and sane4 ,the haughty air of the ,academy's official staff was not justified either because of any venerable tradition nor because of the most elementary gsavoir faire_/g4 ,the 8wanderers01 having dislodged from the ,academy the pedants whom ,bakst knew1 placed themselves in their seats4 ,their sthetic carelessness was complete1 their ignorance of ,western art absolute and provoking4 ,at the same time young artists who rebelled at this teaching were reduced to the necessity of acquiring the rudiments of painting by themselves4 ,affairs were in such a condition that they absolutely needed to be remedied4 ,bakst therefore associated himself with ,mstislas ,doboujinsky1 ,illustration3 ,a ,,huntress ,,in #aicj a remarkable offspring of 8,mir ,iskousstva01 who excelled in the designing of the ornament and of the vignette1 and who later worked with considerable success in the theater1 in order to start a free school4 ,i recall having been able1 in connection with an exposition organized by the review 8,apollo01 to estimate the results achieved during the first year of the school's work4 ,one series of studies symbolized a nude man on a background of red material4 ,there was none of that 8academic0 way of placing things in a vacuum or in a neutral atmosphere1 nor of sketches colored amid gray shadows4 ,the bright red of the background played upon the subject in green lights2 the rhythm of the colored surfaces superimposed itself upon the anatomic harmony of the body4 ,all these attempts were strictly anonymous as far as the public was concerned2 it was not the personal pride of the students that was to be flattered2 it was merely a question of establishing the validity of the method4 ,that did not hinder the fact1 however1 that some of those young unknown painters today enjoy a reputation that borders upon renown4 ,we have now reached the year #aijh4 ,bakst seems to have condensed his effort4 ,he has summoned back the ancient legendary tale and has restored it to the theater4 ,this myth he has also projected upon a famous canvas4 ,in his portraits his incisive line closely encompasses material and internal realities4 ,in his romantic dreams he has been able to live again through what ,stphane ,mallarm has called 8la grce des choses fanes04 ,later he makes a division of his artistic property among his enthusiastic students4 ,how much there is in this to fill a beautiful life6 ,one might think that the circle of such men as ,bakst is completed in one harmonious curve4 ,but it is nothing of the sort4 ,bakst is one of those men whose road is laid out in spiral form4 ,what seems like a stop1 is in fact nothing but a turn of the road4 ,and at each turn the circle widens4 ,at ,petrograd his task is completed4 ,there is nothing left there except to follow4 ,but there remains ,paris and the universe4 ,in reality1 ,i am at the end of my task1 which is that of acquainting the reader with a ,bakst who has not yet been written up1 of speaking of his formative period and of the intimate and hidden sources of his inspiration4 ,once my hero had entered upon public life1 ,i ought already to have left the domain of his private existence4 ,it is with regret that ,i take leave of the good little fellow who goes into ecstasy over his grandfather's canary birds2 of the uncompromising youth who defies his ignorant masters2 of the young man who risks his future--and what a ,illustration3 ,,xxxiii ,,the ,,red ,,sultana ,illustration ,illustration3 ,,xxxiv ,,the ,,pink ,,sultana4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xxxv ,,the ,,yellow ,,sultana4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xxxvi ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,the 8,,blue ,,god0 ,illustration3 ,a ,,drawing future6--for the sake of the exquisite form of a smile and the profile of a tapering hand2 and finally of the artist whom ,i see in my country becoming identified with all big projects1 either undertaking them or excelling in them4 ,but this study would perforce be incomplete if ,i did not decide to accompany our friend on his exodus toward the ,west and to put together the main facts of his recent activity which sends its rays over the entire world--an activity of which1 for the most part1 ,i am a witness4 ,therefore1 en route to ,paris6 ,illustration ,a ,,show ,,in ,,an ,,armchair ,in #aijf or thereabouts1 following immediately upon the first ,russian revolution that failed so grievously1 the group of young artists and poets marched side by side through the breach that had been opened in the citadel of public opinion4 ,the 8modernists0 of 8,mir ,iskousstva01 who had been jeered by the common herd1 came into their own4 ,but a certain uneasiness troubles this rising power2 it feels itself incomplete1 limited in a fatal manner4 ,it is not equipped to reestablish great painting2 it can only count upon illustrators1 decorators1 and poets of the ,illustration3 ,,drawing ,,of ,,colour ,,for ,,the ,,review 8,,apollo0 past4 ,and1 as is the case with authority everywhere when it feels itself threatened1 so too this group1 not being able to assert itself1 was anxious to spread out4 ,accordingly1 they looked for new fields to conquer4 ,once again we see ,diaghileff leading the attack4 ,he releases that great exodus of ,russians to the ,west--the brilliant and victorious march on ,paris4 ,the offensive starts with a ,russian exhibition at the 8,salon d',automne01 an exhibition which under the guise of being retrospective is in reality a fighting manuvre4 ,a collection of icons1 of numerous portraits of the eighteenth century symbolizes the return to a tradition which the young men of the 8,monde ,artiste0 proclaim to be their own4 ,similarly the arbitrary gaps indicate their complete break with the unnatural art of the 8wanderers01 the latter having been nearly entirely eliminated4 ,bakst took part in this enterprise not alone as a painter4 ,he decorated the hall of the eighteenth century1 which had been transformed into a grove1 with a trellis surmounted by vases4 ,this conception of an exposition hall forming an organic whole1 making a coherent gensemble_/g1 and therefore having a distinctive atmosphere--is not this1 again1 a gift belonging to the ,russians8 ,this first attack could do no more than break through the first lines of the enemy4 ,painting1 it was evident1 was not sufficient as an object for combat4 ,so ,diaghileff thought of music4 ,his historical concerts of ,russian music caused the greatest excitement2 ,parisian opinion was deeply stirred4 ,bakst's role in this first and formidable success was quite accidental4 ,he drew some portraits for the program1 notably that of ,balakirev1 the composer of 8,thamar03 bold lines and a synthetic contour set out the head of the aged oriental sorcerer as though it were sculptured4 ,it now became a question of following up this first victory4 ,diaghileff turns once again to the theater1 counting for his success upon its numbers and upon the wide range that it afforded4 ,all circumstances are favorable for his project4 ,his old group of coworkers surrounds him1 abler through strife and experience4 ,a galaxy of stars of the dance--,pavlova1 ,karsavina--await but the signal to make them gleam forth on the western sky4 ,at the same time a marvellous dancer is discovered--,nijinsky4 ,and1 as a will is needed to give life to all these latent forces1 behold1 ,michael ,fokine presents himself1--,fokine1 a young master of ,illustration3 ,,xxxvii ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,act #crd ,,of ,,verh,,ren',s 8,,helen ,,of ,,sparta04 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xxxviii ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for ,,the 8,,cleopatra0 ,,ballet4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xxxix ,,costume ,,for ,,tcherepnine',s 8,,adoration0 ,illustration3 ,,xl ,,costume ,,for ,,stravinsky',s 8,,bird ,,of ,,fire0 ,illustration3 ,a ,,wandering ,,musician',s ,,costume4 78,,women ,,of ,,good ,,humour07 the ballet1 a rebel at the hundredyearold tradition in vogue in the imperial theaters1 who is ready to offer himself body and soul to the cause of the painters who take possession of the theater as masters4 ,into this renunciation of tradition he puts all the fervor of a neophyte and an infinite measure of talent4 ,what was there that one could not dare to undertake with such a band of the lite8 ,what followed is well known3 fifteen times the celebrated 8,russian ,seasons0 have already borne in upon ,paris like shining waves breaking into foam4 ,it is not for me here to trace in detail the fate of the 8,seasons01--the transformations which they underwent1 their successes as well as their ,illustration3 ,,facing ,,the ,,mont-,,blanc4 ,,drawing failures1 the latter oftentimes being more creditable than the successes4 ,whatever else may have been their mission1 certain it is that they brought two men forth into fame and glory3 ,stravinsky the musician and ,leon ,bakst the painter4 8,cleopatra0 had caused extraordinary surprise4 8,sheherazade0 in #aiaj surpassed everything4 ,in recalling the annals of the modern theater1 it is scarcely possible to recollect any production that was given a similar reception4 ,i had intended to sum up the successive stages of the fifteen years of productive work accomplished4 ,yet here ,i find myself1 as ,i face my sources and my documents1 overwhelmed with the almost magic ,illustration3 ,a ,,verandah4 ,,drawing abundance of the material1 the description1 yes1 the mere ordered enumeration of which would fill many a volume4 ,these sources consist in part of numerous productions which maintain their place in the theater from season to season without losing their popularity because of the ever present memories of others4 ,but on the other hand we also have the 8dossiers0 of these productions1--the sketches and models of the decorations and costumes4 ,these sketches are without a doubt the most authentic references4 ,but besides having value as documents they possess an intrinsic value as works of art4 ,these water-colors or emphasized sketches are more than mere guide-lines for the scissors of the costume maker or the brush of the stage decorator4 ,these statuettes of odalisques1 of girls of the street1 of a marquis each have an existence of their own1 each possesses an individual rhythm4 ,the artist imparts movement to them--the whole dynamic rhythm of the future ballet pre-exists there potentially4 ,jotted down upon a white sheet of ,waltmann they energize and give life to this surface4 ,more than that3 they suggest the character of the particular role4 ,think of the sensual passion of the ,oriental dancers in pink or green or of the fragrance of the rustic idyll that breathes from the exquisite pages drawn for ,daphne6 ,think of the ,gothic and mournful sensuality of ,sebastian6 ,indeed1 what an inspiring 8show in an armchair0 it is to turn over these pages1 which are a microcosm of a world come into reality upon the stage6 ,to this show ,i would invite the reader2 as for myself1 ,i would but turn the pages4 99 99 99 99 99 8,sheherazade0 was ,bakst's real debut at ,paris4 8,cleopatra0 had been a revival4 ,it represented an attempt to utilize the small ballet inspired by a story of ,thophile ,gauthier's and supported by a mediocre score composed by ,arensky4 ,on top of this score were grafted fragments from ,rimsky-,korsakov1 ,moussorgsky1 ,glinka1 and ,glazounoff in order to transform it into an historic whole4 ,bakst undertook the thankless task of re-creating the unity of this heterogeneous collection4 ,he created a monumental and sinister background1 saturating the ,egyptian granite with color4 ,he wrought into an harmonious whole the motley crowd of brown slaves with white loin-cloths1 the ,greek young men raising the panther skin of ,dionysos1 the captive ,jewesses with somber hooded cloaks punctuated by the white in which their single and troubled figure is draped4 ,illustration3 ,,xli ,,the 8,,boutique ,,fantasque0 ,,ballet ,,the ,,child ,,with ,,dolls ,illustration3 ,,xlii ,,the 8,,butterflies0 ,,ballet4 ,a ,,valet ,,in #ahej ,illustration3 ,,xliii ,a ,,huntress4 ,,decorative ,,panel ,illustration3 ,,xliv ,,the 8,,boutique ,,fantasque0 ,,ballet4 ,a ,,doll ,illustration3 ,,silenus4 8,,narcissus ,,ballet0 ,the action which begins as an idyll and which is lulled by the soft music of the violin is suddenly upset by the strident notes of the flutes4 ,preceded by musicians who carry instruments of antique and unusual design and by solemn guards1 a number of slaves carry a long closed box upon a litter4 ,one side of the palanquin slides down and a mummy is revealed1 tall and motionless1 whom the slaves stand upright upon its feet encased in cothurns of sculpted wood4 ,the slaves1 running around her1 free her of the bandages in which she is wrapped1 and when the last fetters have thus dropped1 the queen steps down from the cothurns1 unnaturally tall1 her hair colored with blue powder4 ,she walks toward the regal couch and in doing so1 a nude limb is revealed1 longer and bolder than those of the fairies in the pictures of ,english pre-,raphaelite artists4 ,this female being1 this queen is ,ida ,rubinstein4 ,it is not the first time in the life of ,bakst that we see this haughty and pallid profile of the implacable empress appear4 ,several years previously ,bakst had adapted the stage setting of ,sophocles' 8,antigone0 ,illustration3 ,a ,,brook ,,in ,,the ,,mountains4 ,,drawing to this young dbutante1 who then appeared under an assumed name4 ,i clearly remember this unique production4 ,and ,i see again the proud maiden as she is wrapped in the numerous and complicated folds of her black mourning robe4 ,in working out this conception ,bakst had drawn his inspiration from a tombstone or else had deciphered the clever pattern from the sides of a ,greek vase4 ,later this young woman with her disconcerting and mysterious beauty1 this mystical virgin1 voluptuous yet frigidly cold1 with a will ,illustration3 ,,rabbits4 ,a ,,sketch of iron underneath a fragile frame1 and possessed of a haughty and cold intelligence1 who dressed in eccentric clothes1 became one of the ,muses of our artist4 ,hers was the gift of driving his imagination to exasperation4 ,even after many years had elapsed she still held for him the allpowerful attraction of the strange1 of the unreal1 of the supernatural4 ,his ,muse--perhaps that is not the right term3 rather1 his ,friendly ,demon4 ,having once touched upon the chapter of the ,muses1 another female image rises in my mind's eye--that of ,mme4 ,marie ,kousnetzoff1 the opera star4 ,she is not the white and lunar ,lilith2 she is the ,eve of the terrestrial paradise4 ,this ,russian brunette1 with a ,levantine face1 a blooming flower in human flesh1 with full1 muscular form1 seemed to have been created for the very purpose of wearing the turbans and the revealing veils designed by ,bakst4 ,those who have seen her in the 8,legend of ,joseph01 garbed as a ,venetian of the ,renaissance1 and wearing the thick-soled shoes suggested to ,bakst by the celebrated costume designer ,cesare ,vecellio1 brother of ,titian1 will forever retain this wonderful picture of the ,biblical story of lust4 ,thus ,mme4 ,kousnetzoff was the very incarnation of the oriental mirage that many a time haunted ,bakst4 ,was she his ,muse8 ,no--his female ,double6 ,but enough of these parenthetical remarks6 ,why was it that 8,sheherazade0 established itself and retained its place8 ,why was it that it could keep its prestige undiminished1 even after it had called forth innumerable imitations in a territory extending all the way from the ,opera to the meanest of suburban music halls8 ,the reason for it is the fact that this ,persian ballet1 which adapts the prologue of the 8,thousand and ,one ,nights0 to a subtle and decorative score composed by ,rimsky-,korsakoff1 the eminent colorist1 is the affirmation and1 what is still more important1 the realization of a great principle--the optic unity of a production4 ,the sides of a large green tent enriched with gold and black encase and encircle the ladies' apartment which is peopled with a crowd dressed in orange1 pink and green clothes1 who surround the single royal jewel1 the ,sultana ,zobeide1 a blue sapphire in a setting of rubies and emeralds4 ,thus the costumes either blend with the scenery in an infinity of fine shades and gradations of value that have been carefully studied out1 or they contrast with the scenery in accordance with the visible logic of complementary colors4 ,is the result1 then1 a ballet8 ,it is a living scenery with interchangeable elements4 ,was ,i going to speak of optic unity8 ,do ,i mean by it that unity stops at the surface8 ,certainly not6 ,this ardent and cruel magnificence of color1 this effluvium of sensuality which emanates from the setting produces an action in which the very excess of passionate ecstacy can only be satiated by the spilling of blood4 ,this harmonious giddiness1 this measured paroxysm seems to recall the title which ,maurice ,barrs gave to a famous book3 8,concerning ,blood1 ,sensuality1 and ,death40 8,sheherazade0 remains as the model work in ,bakst's oriental sphere of endeavor2 neither he himself nor his competitors surpassed it4 ,but ,illustration3 ,,xlv ,a ,,page4 78,,aladin0 ,,ballet7 ,illustration3 ,,xlvi ,a ,,page ,,in ,,louis ,,xiv's ,,style4 78,,aladin0 ,,ballet7 ,illustration3 ,,xlvii ,,the ,,empress ,,elisabeth ,,petrovna ,,hunting4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,xlviii ,,delphi4 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,popular ,,bathing ,,at ,,lido round about this luminous center other visions of hashish radiate forth3 8,thamar0--a ,cleopatra in ,georgian style1 a symphony in blue major2 8,the ,blue ,god01 a ,hindu fairytale2 8,peri01 more recently1 8,alladin01 and1 only the other day1 8,the ,adoration40 ,astonishment takes hold of one as one tells the large pearls on this necklace that is worthy of the funeralpile of ,sardanapalus4 ,turn over the pages of the ballets that ,i have cited and look for the sketches2 if you are in possession of the magic word of ,ali,baba1 force open the sesame of the ,museum of ,decorative ,arts in which are jealously guarded the most beautiful of these sketches2 and you will find how justified was the saying of the late ,josfin ,pladan1 8,bakst1 the ,delacroix of the ,costume40 ,consider the wisely arranged orgy of 8,sheherazade01 7for ,bakst has this supreme gift that great masters possess1 of being concerned about the smallest button on a legging at the same time that they are getting a whole army to march7 and in this whole eruption of vigorous colors you will not observe the slightest suggestion of white4 ,there is1 nevertheless1 in the work of ,bakst a whole corner1 enveloped in sunshine1 in which the white--shining and serene1 virginal and fresh--dominates resolutely4 ,the sensual within him is duplicated by the romantic4 ,we saw this come to the fore for the first time in the 8,fairy of the ,dolls02 ,schumann's 8,carneval0 revealed the 8white ,bakst0 to the ,parisians4 ,they never grew tired of these adorable puppets1 sentimental and crafty1 who glide over the floor to the musical text of ,schumann like the dolls on the cover of a music box4 ,harlequin and ,pierrot1 ,chiarina or ,colombine--they are not merely endless masks costumed in the styles of #ahcj1 with furbelows and coiffures in ringlets2 they are the incarnations of that playful and exquisite ,viennese spirit2 they are the descendants of ,mozart and of ,haydn4 ,and the cut of their hazy cambrics1 their whole bearing is in 8,biedermayer0 style--that quaint and charming style of bourgeois romanticism in the ,germany of old4 ,in order not to crush these fragile and delicate beings with the four walls of reality1 as they flitted like butterflies about the stage4 ,bakst removed all stationary decoration3 a background of drapery1 a couch set off against this background--that was all4 ,nothing encumbers the view nor impedes the imagination of the spectator as he is enticed by the graceful or ironical episodes of the play to picture to himself a ball room or a boudoir or a park4 ,if the costumes of 8,papillons01 which was connected with ,schumann's 8,carneval0 by ,fokine1 who discovered a certain aroma and dynamic rhythm common to both1 are a continuation1 so to speak1 of the style of costumes employed in the first ballet1 the 8,spectre of the ,rose01 on the other hand1 carries us almost without our noticing it over to the land of ,france4 ,the music is by ,weber1 the ,german composer who captivated ,grard de ,nerval1 but it receives its orchestral form at the hands of ,hector ,berlioz1 and the text is supplied by two lines from ,thophile ,gauthier1 who had already inspired 8,cleopatra0 and the 8,pavillon d',armide0 by ,benois4 ,this young girl in white flounced gown belongs more to ,achille ,dvria and ,eugne ,lamy ,illustration3 8,,women ,,of ,,good ,,humour0 ,,ballet4 ,,the ,,valet ,,niccolo4 7,,gouache7 than to ,franz ,krueger or ,kriehuber2 the ball from which she returns might be the ball at ,sceaux of ,honor de ,balzac2 this night which filters through the glass door is a night in ,france2 this dying rose which is impersonated by the divine ephebe ,nijinsky is a rose of ,france4 ,the young girls of times gone by1 about whom the gentle ,francis ,jammes dreamed1 would not be displeased at this airy pavilion with white wainscoting and white furniture in which1 on the wall paper of blue cobalt1 white bouquets are scattered about4 ,into this virginal quietude of soothing colors1 detaching itself from the sombre verdure of the background1 the human flower projects itself--a flower of purplish pink1 feverish and consumed with amorous languor4 ,the setting for a comic opera1 8,the ,secret of ,suzanne01 develops the same theme more in detail4 ,this brief catalogue of ,bakst's romantic cycle would1 however1 be incomplete were ,i not to mention the costumes of the 8,boutique fantasque0 which is in fact chiefly a sketch1 but more centered1 more pointed1 more compressed than the 8,fairy of the ,dolls0 which marks the beginning of ,bakst's career4 ,this was a memorable enterprise1 for it was marked by the collaboration of two great artists3 the dolls by ,bakst perform evolutions against a background painted by ,andr ,derain4 ,we have already seen how ,bakst discovered the tragic and magnificently barbaric ,greece of pre,hellenic and ante,european times which he brought to the stage1 by designing stage settings the rude grandeur of which formed a fit background for the growing despair of ,antigone or for the doom that overwhelmed ,oedipus4 ,once again he brings out all the anguish in the fear of the ancients1 the primitive hysteria of people bewildered by the cruel play of unfathomable forces--the hot wind which blows from the ,asiatic desert and which leashes the blood almost into insanity1 the triumph of ,eros in the midst of fratricide and horror4 ,he staged this 8,helen of ,sparta0 by ,verhaeren for ,mme4 ,rubinstein--this play in which a great modern poet incarnates his intent1 violent and prophetic soul in the characters of a legend which had already absorbed the ,grand ,old ,man of ,weimar4 ,the return of ,helen1 however1 which for ,goethe had been the symbol of restored and reborn classical antiquity1 to the ,flemish poet seemed a passionate and terribly human dilemma hidden under an archaic guise4 ,illustration3 ,,xlix ,,galisson1 ,,prince ,,charmant',s ,,tutor ,,louis ,,xiv ,,ballet 7,,pavlova ,,tournee74 ,,gouache ,illustration3 ,l ,,the ,,bird ,,of ,,fire 7,,another ,,version74 ,,gouache ,illustration3 ,,li ,,the 8,,boutique ,,fantasque0 ,,ballet4 ,,the ,,englishwoman ,illustration3 ,,lii ,,the 8,,boutique ,,fantasque0 ,,ballet4 ,,the ,,englishman ,illustration3 ,,stage ,,decoration ,,for 8,l,,chet0 ,now1 ,bakst designed a bare and harsh setting for the martyrdom of ,helen1 who is condemned to be coveted unto death by all who come in contact with her3 the ground reduced to lime1 stones that have a burnt smell1 heavy gates of the royal fortress1 smoke of woodpiles--in short1 everything in this volcanic landscape is a latent menace4 ,this grim and desolate face of ,hellas is seen for the last time in an act of 8,daphnis and ,chloe0 where one sees the pirates dancing a war-dance among the steep declivities of the red rocks4 ,but how sweet is the idyll which they disturb6 ,all that there is of ,ionic sweetness envelops this pastoral scene4 ,i know nothing in the entire work of ,bakst that is equal to these tender1 fresh1 damp greens of the meadow and of the forest where the two children walk about displaying the charming torment of love that knows nothing of itself4 ,it is a sketch for the first act1 but in it lies all of the ,greece of ,theocritus1 of ,moschus1 and also of ,andr ,chenier's ,aoristys4 ,thus the short novel by ,longus ,illustration3 ,,project ,,of ,a ,,crystal ,,cup which had already inspired the painter ,pierre ,bonnard to draw the lithographs which constitute the lyric flower of his work1 live once more through the brush of the great ,russian4 ,the mythological world had1 besides1 already been displayed in another work of ,bakst's1--8,narcissus04 ,the setting is unique3 in the foreground is a spring bordered by large somber rocks and shaded by branches of trees which droop into a brook of emerald4 ,through an ,illustration3 ,,gogol',s 8,,nose04 ,,an ,,illustration opening of the rocks one sees a meadow upon which a tropical heat lies heavy4 ,the natural bridge over which we presently see the nymph ,echo pass lamenting and garbed in a mourning robe of violet1 forms the second tier1 raised above the scenery of the foreground in much the same manner as one sees it raised in the stage settings of ,torelli in the seventeenth century1 or as one also sees it in the 8,parnassus0 of ,andrea ,mantegna at the ,louvre4 ,and it is the vivacious and manycolored figures of the ,greece on the terracottas that monopolize the scene1 clad in fresh and simple colors--blue and green that match with the color of the sky and the forest1 lemonyellow and brickred that form patches on the short white tunics4 ,bakst reserved1 however1 for the 8,afternoon of a ,faun01 the pastoral poem for which ,debussy received his inspiration from a poem by ,stphane ,mallarm1 his attempt at solving the paradox of setting forth upon the stage the authentic rhythm of the figures that keep turning forever on the sides of ,greek vases4 ,the background is an old forest2 a convenient hill1 on which the ,faun reclines1 narrows the platform and leaves only a small proscenium free4 ,on this proscenium the dancers project themselves in profile1 dressed in long tunics with frilled folds like the fluting of an ,ionic column4 ,moving on a single elevation they convey the idea of having but two dimensions like the arabesques that decorate a surface4 ,bakst does not1 however1 allow himself to be imprisoned in this threefold domain4 ,his imagination is forever travelling along thousands of crossing paths4 ,and quite willingly he stops at the great crossroads of civilization1 where hostile worlds confront each other and establish themselves4 ,of such a character is the exuberant 8,martyrdom of ,st4 ,sebastian01 where the ,rome of ,heliogabalus1 closed about by ,asia1 conveys to us both the naiveness of the medival mysteries and the imagination of the ,quatrocentrist painters4 ,again1 there is 8,pisanelle01 another ,french work from the pen of ,gabriele d',annunzio4 ,it is a poem of the ,mediterranean1 in which the ,latin ,west1 feudal and mystic1 clashes with the rigid and solemn ,byzantium1 while the imperishable perfume of ,hellas rises from the land of ,cyprus from which ,aphrodite sprang forth4 ,it would take volumes to enumerate all the pictorial elements in these productions1 and even then one could not construct a component whole4 ,but the large architectural outlines1 the clusters of small black and gold columns which form the portal for the 8,jeu de la ,sainte ,courtisane01 ,illustration3 ,,liii ,,stage ,,decorations ,,for 8,,thamar0 ,illustration3 ,,liv ,,sadko ,illustration3 ,,lv ,,the 8,,boutique ,,fantasque0 ,,ballet 8,,la ,,poup,e ,,aux ,,dentelles0 ,illustration3 ,,lvi ,,modern ,,costume 7,a 8,,fantaisie074 7,,gouache7 the enormous twisted columns in the 8,conseil des faux ,dieux01 over whom ,sebastian triumphs--these impress themselves indelibly upon one's memory4 ,this architectural conception1 the best possible setting for the actor and for the 8round relief0 which the human body forms1 especially determined the grandiose and graceful setting for the ballet 8,the ,sleeping ,beauty01--this ,french masterpiece born of the soil of ,russia which is fertile in miracles4 ,in this work1 the production of which was reserved for ,london1 ,bakst returns squarely to the surprises afforded by extraordinary shortcuts1 to the harmony of masses that are organized1 to the magic play of stage elevations raised in tiers1 to the severe splendors of linear perspective4 ,we see him1 after a century of realistic stilllife deception1 taking up again the work of the great decorators and architects1 of the geometricians ,illustration3 ,a ,,woman ,,lying4 ,,touched ,,up ,,drawing of theatrical vision1 whether their names be ,gonzaga or ,bibiena1 whether ,sanquirico or ,ciceri4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,poet ,,jean ,,cocteau ,this masterpiece1 concerning which the author of these lines has written a book1 is a free 8capriccio0 of the ,great ,age when ,tiepolo ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,dancer ,m4 brushed elbows with ,mansart4 8,artmis trouble01 a ballet produced at the ,opera during the spring of the present year1 is a graceful mythological play springing from a similar set of ideas4 ,i am far from having exhausted the plentiful material of these innumerable works1 for during almost a quarter of a century ,bakst has ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,painter ,,golovine initiated numerous productive ideas4 ,he discovers new veins but is ever ready1 after a few blows with the pickaxe1 to abandon them to those who follow him4 ,is it not he who dares introduce the modern sportive costume to the lyric stage as a decorative and expressive element8 ,remember the 8,jeux0 which he undertook with ,nijinsky6 ,and was not this vogue for things ,venetian of the eighteenth century1 for the ,venice of ,pietro ,illustration3 ,,lvii ,,portrait ,,of ,,ida ,,rubinstein ,illustration3 ,,lviii ,a ,,call 7,,poster ,,for ,,an ,,exhibition ,,at ,,vienna74 7,,gouache7 ,illustration3 ,,lix ,a ,,living ,,model4 ,,red ,,chalk ,,and ,,chalk ,illustration3 ,,lx ,,the 8,,boutique ,,fantasque0 ,,ballet4 ,,an ,,italian ,,doll ,illustration3 ,,the ,,composer ,,balakirev4 ,,drawing4 7,,the ,,tretiakoff ,,museum1 ,,moscow7 ,longhi and of ,guardi1 this vogue for beauty and for the fan called forth by his exhilarating 8,women of ,good ,humour0 in which1 with the greatest unconcern1 ,bakst exchanges the toeslippers of the pasha with the red shoeheels of ,giacomo ,casanova8 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,marchesa ,,casati ,,touched ,,up ,,drawing ,and lastly1 was not his intervention decisive in bringing about a transformation of feminine costumes8 ,these sketches of gowns constitute an epoch in the history of fashion1 and they afford an access to painters into this domain from which they have been excluded ever since the days of ,gavarni4 ,for ,illustration3 ,,sketch ,bakst is more than an a solitary creator4 ,he is an inspirer whose influence radiates forth over a huge periphery4 ,how numerous are the aspects ,illustration3 ,,sketch of modern life that bear ,bakst's indelible seal1 which is a label of greatness and which confers an air of nobility in which one is never mistaken6 ,these are the things of which ,i am thinking as ,i turn over with you1 my readers1 the pages of this book4 ,and as we have finished1 we must begin again--this time1 however1 in silent meditation1 which is even more gratifying4 ,illustration3 ,,lxi ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,poet ,,andrei ,,bely4 ,,crayon ,,and ,,pencil ,illustration3 ,,lxii ,a ,,portrait ,illustration3 ,,lxiii ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,boy ,z4 ,,red ,,chalk ,illustration3 ,,lxiv ,,the 8,,women ,,of ,,good ,,humour0 ,,ballet4 ,,dorothea ,,epilogue ,illustration3 ,,project ,,for ,,embroidery ,,bakst ,,and ,,russia ,we have followed ,bakst through each of the fields with which he was familiar1 whatever their nature4 ,each road in this labyrinth of styles brought us back to the native land of the artist4 ,throughout1 the exotic or 8,eurasiatic0--to use a word coined by a group of ,russian dreamers in exile--dominated4 ,for the common herd ,bakst is over and above all the creator of an oriental fairyland4 ,even his very name1 monosyllabic1 quickly pronounced1 and cutting like the blade of a ,turkish simitar1 seems to call up a fleeting but intense vision of ,asia4 ,illustration ,bakst was bound forever to disconcert the lovers of convenient formulas4 ,you think you have caught up with his jerky and lightning-like course1 when1 lo6 he has already escaped1 to the delight of one of the 8four winds of the spirit04 ,there remains in your hand the sixth skin of the serpent which it divests itself of--only to clothe itself again in the seventh4 ,recently1 in the spring of #aibb1 we witnessed a new gavatar_/g of the artist4 ,ten years previously he had left his fatherland for a new fatherland that was more hospitable--for ,france4 ,now1 under a splendid impulse of piety1 of tender homesickness1 of filial love he returned of his own accord to his ,mother--,russia1 bruised1 trampled ,illustration3 ,,lxv 8,a ,,peasant ,,woman0 7,,sketch ,,by ,,potemkine74 ,,gouache ,illustration3 ,,lxvi 8,a ,,peasant ,,woman0 7,,sketch ,,by ,,potemkine74 ,,gouache ,illustration3 ,,lxvii ,,costume ,,for 8,,le ,,chantre ,,et ,,la ,d,,vote0 ,illustration3 ,,lxviii ,,costume ,,of ,,peasant ,,woman ,,for ,,potemkine',s 8,,village0 ,illustration3 ,,drawing ,,of ,,cover ,,for ,,the ,,book 8,,russian ,,ex-,,libris0 upon1 dragged into the mud and blood by infamous villains4 ,when all the world deserted her1 he watched by her bedside4 ,chance had it that1 at the very moment when ,alexander ,benois' masterpiece1 8,petroushka0 was produced at the ,opera1 a mimic drama by ,bakst was played on the scanty stage of the ,femina theater entitled 8,lchet04 ,between these two surprising plots lies nothing less than a halfcentury of ,russian history--the fall of a throne and of a world4 ,the 8burlesque scenes0 of ,benois seemed like the final blossomingout of ancient ,petrograd1 like a nostalgic vision of the imperial city1 called forth by an ardent lover of an abandoned past4 ,a mob of people1 truculent1 jeering1 deafeningly noisy1 with an exuberant movement of cheerfulness1 monopolizes the stage2 a forceful1 manifold1 strikingly lively rhythm constitutes1 properly speaking1 the action4 ,in the rigid and stiff scenery of the fated city1 popular fancy has erected its paradise of outlandish hovels1 its blue and red 8balagani01 in the open air4 ,personages from the prints at ten kopecks and from the pictures of ,epinal come to life again and bestir themselves2 comely 8nounous0 strut about and try to attract2 with noisy clatter of boots bearded coachmen hasten the step of their squatting dance4 ,russian rural life for one last time spends itself in these ,slavic saturnalia4 ,even the dolls which are the protagonists of the grotesque drama try to shake off their mechanical torpor4 ,they would like to become flesh and blood2 they have a hungry desire to live2 at times1 indeed1 they really do live4 ,the action of 8,lchet01 likewise1 is staged at ,st4 ,petersburg which1 however1 has become ,petrograd--but not in the clear sunshine of a winter's day2 rather within the concrete walls of the 8,people's ,house0 which the last of the ,czars erected to the glory of the modern capital4 ,here the wooden horses are moved by powerful dynamos under the searching light of electric lamps4 ,but what has become of the mob in 8,petroushka01--the motley1 varied crowd8 ,the doll1 the artificial1 mechanical1 automatic puppet has dispossessed the human being2 it gets the better of the disabled actor4 ,there remains enough soul1 however1 in this changed world to supply the bodies of five human ,illustration beings2 and what a soul1 good ,god6 ,nothing in these puppets reminds one of the smiling indifference of 8,petroushka04 ,we are on the eve of terrible happenings1 and we feel it with sadness2 a dull gennui_/g weighs upon us heavily1 like the low cloud before a storm4 ,ah6 we are now in the ,petrograd of #aiaf6 ,how can we express all the trickiness in the apathetic inertia of these figures that are scarcely articulate1 that are uniformly costumed and that skip about or sink down at the will of their wires that direct them8 ,before this pliability1 this evil passivity of shapeless puppets1 this cynical swaying motion of impotent figures1 this 8dance of death0 of inertia1 the mimicked action vanishes1 and living men disappear4 ,the drama of the passion--death which passes1 hideous and sneering1--becomes pallid under the gaze without eyes of hostile faces4 ,how the inevitable closes about us6 ,everything in this atmosphere of anguish and of hallucination becomes a latent menace4 ,the day is near at hand--one feels it with one's whole soul1 nervous with fear--when this mass1 inert1 blind1 crushing1 will hurl itself upon quivering ,russia4 ,happy the blond student in green blouse who finds death as he pursues a dream of love2 he will not see it4 ,he will not know hunger or exile or disgrace4 ,who of us ,russians would not envy him8 ,such were the two faces of ,russia which were exhibited by two painters who are more than painters1--,benois who has the power of retrospective divination1 ,bakst who possesses an understanding of modern life and of its tumultuous forces4 ,but behold6 the curtain which has just fallen on the bristling1 rough1 malicious scenery of 8,lchet01 rises once more to unfold before our eyes a third ,russia--a ,russia debonair and drunken1 ignorant and full of spirit4 ,the vaudeville act 8,old ,moscow0 depicts a rich and opulent city of merchants wearing their gkaftans_/g1 of free carousals1 of a jovial savagery4 ,two frames1 reaching to the knees of the actors1 form the stage setting4 ,on them is a miniature reproduction of the orphaned capital with its forty times forty cupolas1 encircled by the crenelated walls of the ,kremlin4 ,and amidst this delightfully exaggerated parody of a stage full of moujikbourgeois1 we see funny human beings1 overbubbling with good health1 moving about dressed in wide1 stiff skirts that are skyblue or tricolored2 likewise country women weighing a hundred kilos4 ,the thing that is of importance above everything else in this caricature composed without any masked thought is that aroma of the land which1 even in its funniest moments1 makes the tears come to the eyes of ,moscow gmigrs_/g4 ,today ,bakst is completely absorbed by this forgotten world which rises about him on a background of a distant past4 ,he is consumed with an appetite for ,russian memories1 emotions and visions4 ,each day in his studio a population of ,russian figures keeps multiplying--models and groups of which not only their costume but their very attitude has something indefinably national about them1 something profoundly popular1 in short1 something authentic4 ,and to what purpose8 ,the artist as yet does not know4 ,once the actors are placed upon the stage1 he says to himself1 the play will start spontaneously4 ,and in pursuing his enormous and unceasing labors he lets things take their course without hastening them4-- ,we have accompanied ,bakst up to his last station4 ,it is time1 therefore1 for this sketch to end4 ,the writer takes leave of his readers and descends into the audience in order with his readers to await the rising of the curtain for the next act of the most beautiful of plays3 the life of a grand and noble artist4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,contents ,,text ,the ,story of ,leon ,bakst's ,life4 ,preface #ac ,the ,yellow ,drawing ,room #ae ,the ,ungrateful ,age #ah ,the ,two ,sphinxes #cb ,a ,wrong ,start #dj ,the ,club #dh ,mir ,iskousstva #ef ,the ,three ,knocks #gg ,the ,theban ,gate #hi ,terror ,antiquus #ajg ,the ,spiral ,road #aaj ,a ,show in an ,armchair #acb ,epilogue4 ,bakst and ,russia #bag ,,plates ,portrait of ,bakst by ,modigliani ,i 8,chastising ,cupid01 project of decorative panel ,,ii ,d',annunzio's 8,martyrdom of ,st4 ,sebastian01 ,mme4 ,rubinstein in the #eth act ,,iii ,judith of ,bethulia 7panel7 ,,iv 8,forsaken ,chloe01 project of decorative panel4 7,gouache7 ,v ,portrait of ,mr4 ,t4 7red chalk7 ,,vi 8,modern dress0 7a 8fantaisie07 ,,vii 8,daphnis and ,chloe parting in the evening01 sketch for decorative panel4 7,gouache7 ,,viii 8,sheherazade0 ballet4 ,first ,eunuch4 7,gouache7 ,,ix ,an inferior deity4 8,narcissus0 ballet4 7,gouache7 ,x ,stage decorations for ballet 8,orientales04 7,gouache7 ,,xi ,a ,negro's costume 7,sheherazade7 ,,xii ,stage decorations for ,oscar ,wilde's 8,salome04 7,gouache7 ,,xiii 8,phdra0 tragedy4 ,phdra's nurse ,,xiv ,stage decorations for ,hindu ballet4 7,gouache7 ,,xv ,mme4 ,ida ,rubinstein as ,st4 ,sebastian ,,xvi ,the imperial palace 78,the ,martyrdom of ,st4 ,sebastian07 ,,xvii ,mme4 ,rubinstein in 8,the ,martyrdom of ,st4 ,sebastian0 ,,xviii ,the 8,women of good humour0 ballet4 ,rinaldo4 7,gouache7 ,,xix ,stage decorations for 8,phdra0 7,gouache7 ,,xx ,a costume4 8,narcissus0 ballet ,,xxi ,the ,pilgrim 78,blue ,god0 ballet74 ,gouache ,,xxii ,stage decorations for act #dth of ,d',annunzio's 8,st4 ,sebastian04 7,gouache7 ,,xxiii ,the ,czarevitch's costume 78,the ,bird of ,fire07 ,,xxiv ,project of stage decorations for 8,sleeping ,beauty0 ,,xxv ,stage decorations for the vault scene 78,st4 ,sebastian07 ,,xxvi 8,terror antiquus04 ,first golden medal4 #aiaa ,universal ,exhibition 7,brussels7 ,,xxvii 8,terror antiquus0 7detailed7 ,,xxviii ,submarine monsters 78,sadko0 opera74 ,gouache ,,xxix ,stage decorations for the ballet 8,women of good humour0 7second version74 ,gouache ,,xxx ,a bacchanalian dance 7,joseph7 by ,r4 ,strauss ,,xxxi ,mr4 ,nijinsky as 8,blue ,god04 7,gouache7 ,,xxxii ,the red ,sultana ,,xxxiii ,the pink ,sultana4 7,gouache7 ,,xxxiv ,the yellow ,sultana4 7,gouache7 ,,xxxv ,stage decorations for the 8,blue ,god0 ,,xxxvi ,stage decorations for act #crd of ,verhaerens's 8,helen of ,sparta04 7,gouache7 ,,xxxvii ,stage decorations for the 8,cleopatra0 ballet ,,xxxviii ,costume for ,tcherepnine's 8,adoration0 ,,xxxix ,costume for ,stravinsky's 8,bird of ,fire0 ,,xl ,the 8,boutique fantasque0 ballet4 ,the child with dolls ,,xli ,the 8,butterflies0 ballet4 ,a valet in #ahej ,,xlii ,a huntress4 ,decorative panel ,,xliii ,the 8,boutique fantasque0 ballet4 ,a doll ,,xliv ,a page 78,aladin0 ballet7 ,,xlv ,a page in ,louis ,,xiv's style 78,aladin0 ballet7 ,,xlvi ,the ,empress ,elisabeth ,petrovna hunting4 7,gouache7 ,,xlvii ,delphi4 7,gouache7 ,,xlviii ,galisson1 ,prince ,charmant's tutor4 ,louis ,,xiv ballet 7,pavlova tourne74 ,gouache ,,xlxix ,the ,bird of ,fire 7another version74 ,gouache ,l ,the 8,boutique fantasque0 ballet4 ,the ,englishwoman ,,li ,the 8,boutique fantasque0 ballet4 ,the ,englishman ,,lii ,stage decorations for 8,thamar0 ,,liii 8,sadko0 ,,liv ,the 8,boutique fantasque0 ballet4 8,la poupe aux dentelles0 ,,lv ,modern ,costume 7,a 8fantaisie074 ,gouache ,,lvi ,portrait of ,ida ,rubinstein ,,lvii ,a call 7,poster for an exhibition at ,vienna74 ,gouache ,,lviii ,a living model4 ,red chalk and chalk ,,lix ,the 8,boutique fantasque0 ballet4 ,an ,italian doll ,,lx ,portrait of the poet ,a4 ,bely4 ,crayon and pencil ,,lxi ,a portrait ,,lxii ,portrait of the boy ,z4 ,red chalk ,,lxiii ,the 8,women of good humour0 ballet4 ,dorothea ,,lxiv ,a peasant woman 7,sketch by ,potemkine74 ,gouache ,,lxv ,a peasant woman 7,sketch by ,potemkine74 ,gouache ,,lxvi ,costume for 8,le chantre et la dvote0 ,,lxvii ,costume of peasant woman for ,potemkine's 8,village0 ,,lxviii ,illustration ,typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber3 certain amateurishsess certain amateurishness pg #ej ,offtimes he is mistaken ,oftimes he is mistaken pg #ej due do the fact due to the fact pg #ej quite agressive quite aggressive pg #ej when its was exhibited when it was exhibited pg #aji uncompromising youth wo defie uncompromising youth who defie pg #abb painter ,pierre ,ronnard painter ,pierre ,bonnard pg #ahj ,baskt exchanges ,bakst exchanges pg #bjc